Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1932-12-08
on THE POWER QUESTION

EuilOT ASkOV AIuGTlCdu.
In its Our City Today" column the
Drumright, Oklahoma, Evening Der
rick of November 4th carried the fol-
lowing under the signature of Lou S.
Allard. Jr:
1.-The so-called tax-free towns
of Oklahoma which have been
given so much publicity are not
SO much tax free as thought. The
towns in mind are Ponca City.
Blackwell. Newkirk and Tonkawa.
The four leading towns of Kay
county seem to be somewhat in
the shape of Drumright and are
not all they were advertised to be.
Some benighted folks think
that Drumright could be tax free
if it were the owner of a NUM-
cipal light plant, but this is first
class 'tOmmy-rOt'. Drumright
would perhaps be in twice as bad
shape as it is today and $780,
900 is not to be snickered at"
If the Daily OklahOman can be re-
lied on as printing the truth and
most everyone thinks so, with the
possible exception of Bill Murray.
will reproduce for you the article
carried by the Oklahoman Tuesday,
October 18th.
"KAYS SAD TALE OF TAXES IS
16 NEWS PAGES LONG"
"Ponca City, October 17.-(Spe-
ciaD-Kay county delinquent tax
list is to be published October
20 and q. 1t will require 16
pages, or 129 newspaper columns,
to print the list, "a columns in
crease over the 1881 job.
There are $1,000 descriptions,
covering delinquent advalOrem,
paving. sewer and weed taxes, the
last three being strictly NUM-
cipal. Ponca City's delinquent
advalorem tax has increased six
columns, Blackwell's three, New
kinks one and Tonkawa's two and
one-half columns
All four of these towns have NUM-
cipal electric plants and have been
proclaimed throughout the country
by the Public Ownership League of
America as "taX-free.'
Will the American public ever
learn to keep their long noses out
of private business and tend to their
own more closely?
One of the main reasons municipal
ownerships are not advisable as it
gives dough headed" politicians an
other political football to kick around
while the taxpayers suffer the conse-
quences. If there might be some
reasonable way to keep municipal
business out of politics then there
might be some possible faint hope
for cities to dabble their fingers in
that sort of business.
Does a sane and thinking person
think that bunch of political graft
ers could run an electric plant bet
ter than a trained group of electrical
men who have given their whole lives
to the study of electricity and means
of Harvesting this power for the work
of man? With change in admin
the running of the electric plant. which
isn't the best thing in the world for
such business, if | know anything
about it.
1t may be true that electricity can
be produced cheaper than any other
utility but that means when it is
handled 100 per cent efficiently by
trained and skilled wOrkmen who
think Of their work as job and means
of serving, rather than accepting a
soft job" for the term of the add
ministration of certain set of Off
GERS enforcing the 'spoils system"
Drumright and any other town for
that matter had better keep them
selves out of municipal ownership il
they want to be on the list of towns
not so far in debt that one doesn't
know when their home will be sold
from under them to pay for taxes