The Waterbury Democrat., 1937-03-12
Just Simple Arithmetic

You don't have to be a mathematician to be legislator these days. All you need know in this branch of learning IS the simple rules of arithmetic - addition and subtraction. Having already ap- proved a $25,000,00O bond issue we pre- sume many law-maker is positive this will easily suffice the state for years to come. As a matter of fact twice this amount could have been called for and still we wouldn't have enough to care Tor all that should be done. As it now stands more than half of the proceeds from sale of the bond issue will go towards retiring the present deficit.
 When that has been taken care of there will be about $11 100000 left with which to finance an institutional building pro- gram - one that has been overlooked for so many years that now we are going to get it in the neck good and proper. $110O0,000, lot of money any way you look at it, won't last ten minutes if the legislators up at Hartford want to be abrupt about it. They could allocate these funds in the twinkling of an eye. For example, Tuesday, there was men, tioned $4,00000 for the proposed new school for the mentally deficient, to be built in Southbury. There was mention of S3, ,25O, ,000 for the much-diScuSSed SOL diers home at Rocky Hill. $2,839,842 IS required to bring the State Hospital at Newtown up to snuff in the way of addi- tional beds and help and buildings.
 Total that and you've got $10,089, ,842, unless we added wrong. Add to this the $1,2OO,000 that Fairfield County wants for putting the Soldiers Home at Noro- ton in shape and you've already exceeded the available $11 1,000,000 We think the last appropriation can be shelved or done away with If we're to have new sol- diers home at Rocky Hill, 1t should mean the closing of the Noroton establishment as originally planned and announced a few years back.
 Wednesday the State Tuberculosis Commission scaled down it's original plans and only asked for $1 ,600 000 for its several sanatoria. For Connecticut State College $3,000,000 will be needed to bring it to the plane it should operate on. For the state hospital at Middletown, old and out-of-date in too many respects, $2, 143,- 75O is asked For the state hospital at Norwich only $456,000 is urged. Another total is found. This one-$7, 199, ,750. And the surface is just scratched. There are other worthy projects coming up for attention, demanding appropriations.
 Faced by the need of deciding which should come first there is grave danger of the Legislature turning aside some of the petitions, just as it has been doing for years. That's why the amounts now asked are so large Had heed been given the demands years ago much of the cost of institutional expansion would now have been met. Now we are forced to the unpleasant prospect of saddling the tax payers of the state with tremendous burden. We do not see how the state can ignore its patent duty. It must build and replace at a cost of many millions Per haps we can spread this cost out so that it won't be necessary for this Legislature to take the responsibility for authorizing expenditure of so many millions.
 But if we think that in spending $11,- 100000 on institutions we are spending lot, we are far from appreciative of the situation. Twice and even three times that much could be spent without squan- dering one cent of the taxpayers money.