The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1930-10-10
DO WE WANT A SALES TAX?

ii@fS Dhy C"oj
Members Of the Legislature are undoubtedly concerned over the
situation in regard to the referendum measures to be voted o this fall
for the state institutions.
They wresued with the problem two years ago 1T the last SEES
sion of the legislature and got nowhere. Now they e the same old
problem facing them in a more critical form.
The state voted a special levy ten years ago for the state educa
ional institutions. 1t voted bonds to supply needed buildings. The
no provision has been made for revenue to replace the special levy,
and the need of buildings at over crowded institutions has not been
fully set.
If the voters defeat the two measures the legislature will have
to act this coming session. The mill and a half levy did not cover fully
the cost of the maintenance of the state institutions. The general fund
was drawn upon partly for those expenses AS a result ever with the
mill and a half levy the state has been going in the red each year.
We are carrying a large floating debt of registered warrants and have
spent several million dollars fol interest in the past ten years on that
floating debt.
The state revenues minus the special levy simply will not reach
and we would either have to close some of the state institutions or
go deeper in debt with unpaid warrants
The legislature will have to act. They can not, without the ap
proval of the voters, raise the state levy, but they can enact special
tax measures. And that will be the most likely way out for them.
1t has been suggested in some quarters that a sales tax might be
the way out Of course a sales tax would raise the cost OF living.
People of small incomes of course would feel such a tax more keenly
than any other class. There has always been opposition to a sales
tax but in its desperation the legislature would be forced to take some
action and some such proposal might be adopted as a last resort.
Continuation OF a policy of supporting the state educational insti
tutions by a special levy is the thing to do. 1t protects the cause of
education from being sacrificed in the general scramble for appropri
atnns in the Legislatures sessions.
Then if the legislature does find it possible in the next session
or in the sessions to come to revise u system Of taxation to take
some Of the burden off Of tangible property such as real estate, i'm
provements and other visible forms of wealth, relief can be- given thu.
taxpayers by a cut in the general fund levy.
The constitution prevents the legislature from raising the general
fund levy but it does not prevent that body lowering it.
REMARKS BY THE PRESS
We think we're a smart people, but it took half a century for
statesmen to learn not to ask the woman customer what size shoe
Toledo Blade.
Home cooking would be speeded up so years by the use of clippers
on canned goods-New York Evening Post.
Trained Investigators are gradually coming to the conclusion that
Jake Lfngle and Arnold Rothstein killed each other-New York World.
Most of the Ia recruits ONE from the corn belt. but Ubv not,
Eastern cities provide most of the farm experts-Duluth Herald.
Eanstein says the radio among the nations is AZ instrument of