Evening star., 1936-08-26

Deal generosity in disburSing public
funds and the weather mans favor.
Metals are up in price, mines are
going at satisfactory capacity, wool
k UP in value and the cattle market
Is good, to say nothing of the prices
for various speciality an@ staple crops.
For there is only small drought
area in Utah, whereas most Of the
State has had almost an excessive
amount Of rain.
This was one of the first States to
get in on the Federal spending and
to get a political organization going
to take advantage Of the Federal activ-
ties. They make no bones about it
here. They collect a voluntary" tax
on the salaries of all Federal office
holders in the State of about l per
cent a month and this Is used for
Democratic organization purposes.
They have control of the jobs in
virtually all the agencies and have
managed to oust the Republicans on
every side.
U. S. Still Spending.
The political aspect is so brazen
that even when the National Emer-
gency Council had meeting recently
of all the Federal agencies in the
State for purposes of "co-ordination,"
there were present the Democratic
State chairman and the secretary OF
the Democratic State Committee and
their names are officially listed in the
proceedings.
Notwithstanding the seemingly
prosperous conditions and the fact
that recovery is supposed to be here,
the Federal Government is spending
per month about s6O0,0OO for w. p. A,
a prominent Democrat nevertheless
told me he had trouble getting labor
for his farm and that there is short
age of skilled labor in the State. 1t
seems agreed that as long as the w. P.
A. is in existence there will be diff
Guilty getting workers on private jobs
the Federal competition on the wage
basis is, indeed, affecting the States
own projects.
$50,0OO,000 Received.
Utah has received about $50,oOO,-
900 in Federal money in the last
three years, of which about S25.000,-
900 represents an outright grant and
is not repayable. Yet many of the
projects represent improvements
which will benefit only the people OF
the State of Utah.
In the face of all this standS out
the fact that Utah has in its State
treasury a surplus of s2,000,000, &C
cumulated since 1888, and that it has
cut down its debt during the last two
years by about S2,300,000. 1t has
employed various kinds of taxes
which clearly prove that from q
taxing standpoint there has been
plenty of potential revenue from
which the Federal Government over
a period of years might have had
repaid to it directly some Of the
sums spent in Utah.
AS it is, the Federal income tax col
lections in 1884 from Utah were ST.
1882 and in 1885 they were sl,929,-
1893. The Federal Government Is
spending virtually every two months
here for w. p. A. a sum equal TO the
Federal tax collections for whole
year.
10000 On WPA.
Last April the total w. P. A. workers
numbered 10000. 1t is still around
10000. II you ask Democrats and
Republicans when they think private
work will absorb these persons, they
pessimistically tell you that it never
III he ic a ho1i 1ichn
And, of course, this will not happen
until after election because there Is
too much political value TO the New
Deal in continuing the spending.
This is not the comment Of partisans.
It comes from citizens, including many
who are going to vote for Mr.. Roose-
welt.
There is no mystery why Utah is
going to be for Mr. Roosevelt on
election day. Federal money and high
drought prices have produced pros
perity and whether or not it is arti-
fcial or temporary, it will carry to
election day. AS for the suggestion
that some day the Federal bill will
have to be paid in increased taxa
ton, there is little thought given to
such a contingency as the popula-
ton Is relatively small and 1t is said
that there aren't 315 persons in the
State of Utah whose entire assets are
worth 100000 apiece. Somewhere in
the more populous areas of the United
States the question Of who is going
to pay may be getting concrete, but
not as yet in Utah.
Copyright. 1861