The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1933-02-23
Let's Make Our Own Errors


~ oBERT C. BELL prominent Northern Minnesota
X Democrat, has introduced Dill at one s' az
1 legislature which is designed to overcome the
shortcomings Of human nature-particularly the one
of spending than we earn.
His bill would allow ten taxpayers to take the tax
problems of any subdivision before an amgnty STATE
commission which would decide the issue beyond al
measure of doubt The taxpayers may be residents Oh
the community in question, or only property owners
there.
The measure seems to be an imposition upon the
right of the majority to rule. Votes bond issues
and leves made by boards elected by the people could
be set aside if the commission sufficiently in
fuenced. It supposes that nonresident board can
know more about the needs of every community of the
state than the persons living in those communities
Tax reform is much needed and will be brought
about because the public has become tax conscious and
will be watchful of the spending but it is doubt
full if such centrazing of power would accomplish
enough in this direction to offset its disadvantages
It is argued that we are still paying for bitches
which did not prove worthwhile, dismantled bridges
and other unnecessary improvements and that these
mistakes would not have been made had this law been
in effect. If state officials far into the flu
ture why have they made similar errors? Why, for
example, have rural credits department?
Many towns are over-schooled but this fost-
cred by the state which in turn made the same mis-
take judged by our elaborate institutions and the
Der of trained men and women without employment
For every mistake made by the school boards city
councils and county boards, there is like made
by the state.
Under the Bell law handful of stubborn taxpay-
ers could endlessly postpone improvement projects
with hearings and rehearings after the people had
voted by vast majority to go ahead. tax commits
son in order to make adequate study of the prob
lens which would come before it, would require an
army of employees. Otherwise it would endessy de-
lay matters make snap judgments.
minor clause of the bill would change the states
fiscal year and have prepare the tax rolls
this time of the year instead of in the late spring
1t forges that roads often blocked and the weather
bad at this time, increasing the of assessing, and
that city and rural families often moving from
town to town farm to farm in February and March,
giving opportunity of tax evasion.
It seems quite reasonable that duly elected tax
payers on local governing bodies as capable
anyone of prescribing the needs of their communities,
with the help of the voters questions of bond issues
If supporters of the Bell bill prove they not they
still have the burden of proving that tax commissions
are any more capable Of filling the assignment
Senator's Expenses
CONSIDERABLE comment has been caused by the
\ publication in the New York Times of some items
in the expense account of the United States Sem
ate for the last fiscal year, including $44147 for sta
tonery, $4,000 for restaurant meals, $4,000 for bar
Der bills and $3.50 for mineral waters.
Minor items include 500 aspirin tablets, three
pounds of bicarbonate of soda, five gallons of witch
hazel and small amounts of bromo-seltzer soda mint
tablets and indicated alcohol.
While the amount involved in all these senatorial
perquisites is not sufficient to become matter of ma
tonal concern it looks if bills for purely personal
expenses might well be paid by the senators them
selves. The example of such petty sponging is not
inspiring.
Referring to the so aspirin tablets consumed by
the solons the Times thinks that these edo not re-
present the total amount of headache which the SEN
ate has cost the country"