The Omaha guide., 1938-01-22
Continued from Page ID

lit &tAAlhAAaaA0hs
A Wing at a Time
Ts meet the provision of III
ednstitu ion. the statehouse wa
built picceneal. over a period 0
years. Nebraska. to finance it, sim
ly levied on itself a sufficient Ia
to raise l million dollars a year
The first such levy, in 1921, wa
for 3 of a mill on each dollar o.
valuation. As the years came. pro
perry valuations increased, and th'
levy WIS decreased, so that il
dwindled to 90 of a mill, and fin.
ally, at The end, to II of a mill
The statehouse rose wing by wing.
which in itself was a measure OF
economy since competition was
| greater among contractors for the
small jobs, than would have been
| possible If the whole structure had
been let as a unit. Correspondence
fewer contractors would have been
able to handle so large an assign
ment, and the number of bidders
would have been greatly decreased.
The capitol was built around the
old statehouse. As a wing was er-
eoted. a corresponding wing OF the
older Structure was RACED.
Only Temporary Inconvenience
The vas a little ineonveniece in
switching offices aound, and some
times there was a little congestion
as a result. But, as Governor Co
chran says, at was temporary, and
we all knew it and put UP with it.,
IN harmony and good humor. The.
States business was not hampered
ia any way by the temporary dis
comfort of it's officers"
tn best part Of the whole state
house project was that when 1t wal
completed. it was pa d for Many
ether states, having built capitols.
found themselves with bonds to
pay off. A 20-year bond at 5 per
cent doubles itself. Thus, if the
Nebraska statehouse had been fin
anced with 20 year bonds at 5 per
cent-which was not an uncommon
rate in 1921-the taxpayers might
have felt the cost a little less at
the time, but they would have
spent 20 years paying 20 million
dollars for their 10 million dol
lar structure.
Governor Cochran Isis 6 points
as embracing Nebraska's sound Rs-
cal policy:
/. Resistance to pressure groups
seeking greater expenditures.
2. Constitution'l and legislative
limitations upon spending by local
subdivisions of government.
8. Efficient administration.
4. Avoiding new forms of taxes
which usually result in additional
taxes and certainly heavy admin
stration costs.
5 The pay as you go plan for all
state expenditures.
The Policy Reaffrmed
Of these five points. the pay as
you go plan is probably the most
important. As has been said. il
rests upon a const ltutional provi-
sion. but it is noteworthy that the
people of the state of Nebraska
have jealousy guarded that pro.
vision. Included in the constitution
of 1875, it was reaffirmed by tbs
second constitutional convention Of
1920.
In 1881 there was the most seri
Gus attack on the provision, wher
the movement for rapid expansion
of highways reached a high peak
and a motion was introduced init
the legislature TO submit al
amendment to the people enabling
the state to borrow money for thii
purpose, The motion was defeate,
in he Legislature. At the time Gov
Cochran then state engineer, upol
whom much of the pressure came
disapproved it. Although the pro
posal did not even come before tn
people, the reaction against it wa.
so noteworthy. in the last session
of the hgislature-the unicamera
body, which incidentally had no
thing to do with creating the fin
ancial system-some 600 bills wer
proposed, but not one single pro
posal was made for an amend
ment to permit the mourning o
debt.