The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1938-03-31

purpoSely or otherwise it has centralized
control of practically everything in Wash
ington. AS the big dispenser of funds and
the champion of various groups and classes
in their efforts for more abundant life"
the administration has taken upon itself the
task of working out the destinies of all the
people, an obligation which already it is
finding burdenSOme
America is famous for it's extremes and
the present situation is undoubtedly one OF
them Gradually it is soaking in that local
and Individual matters are largely the prob
lem of the locality and the Individual, that
government cannot presume to regulate
from afar affairs that are COMMUNICATIVE,
countrywide or even statewide. The social
ed recession has set the pendulum in mo-
ton, on it's swing back to local control of
local affairs
The relief setup is fair example.
Where we cared for a few dozen families
in the pre-new deal days through local taxes
and personal contributions today an elabor-
ate system is established not only to deal
out the money, our money, but to specify
the manner and means of spending and the
local units dare not rebel for fear the same
money will be dealt to others.
Not one fault can be found with the
manner in which relief is administered that
could not be rectified far more easily under
the old system. Where local administering
agencies kept the load at a minimum, gov
eminent bureaus and their agents have
built it up. Where local work projects in
the early days of the depression demanded
a days work for small pay, today the gov
eminent WPA system pays we'll for short
hours at light work, eliminating the incen-
tive to get off the rolls and spelling men who
once were capable, in ordinary times, of
securing jobs in private employment
The NRA was we'll intended but had
practically caved in when the supreme court
made it's momentous decision because gov
eminent experts couldn't run your business
and mine as well as we could. The railroad
situation throws more light on government
in business and they are about to investi-
gate the governments power producing
ventures.
Even agriculture, freest of all enter
prises, has come under government super
vision. The first farm legislation was in
response to a demand from the rural areas
and the scheme was conceived and quite
generally accepted by farmers. There is
less of the farmers handwriting in the most
recent farm bill and it goes farther in some
phases than many farmers wanted.
Employers were progressive" in their
attitude on social security legislation, or in
different. Today they find themselves sad
died not only with an old age benefit plan
which most of them feel has merit but with
an unemployment insurance scheme which
is burden out of proportion to any antici-
pated returns. Regulatory measures con-
corning business are constantly on the in
crease, the government sharing heavily in
any gains but standing none of the losses
All this worked fairly we'll when things
were on the upturn but the slightest slump
puts things squarely up to the government
Right now public sentiment favors hating
the federal spending program while private
investment is discouraged from taking up
the gap so long as the government holds
heavy hand over operations and demands
an exorbitant split of any profits. The kind
of government reorganization program that
is badly needed is one which will eliminate
the federal bureaus which are in over their
necks and retain those enterprises, and
there are many, which have proved of merit.
PERSONS WHO BECOME RICH
overnight through foreign lottery events
may deserve to be elevated from the sucker
lists to listing as smart investors but the
statistics on such events indicate not
Ones chances of winning in Fridays
Irish sweepstakes were 3,095 to one, the
total of winners being LIZA out of $4,000
ticket holders. Slightly over eight million
dollars was paid on these winning tickets,
an average of $4,542 per ticket. Since some
of the prizes were large, the majority of the
winners got much less. Even the big win
ners must pay in some cases more than half
their winnings to the federal government in
taxes.
Other interesting statistics which might
well be published if available would show
what Americans invest in all such foreign
events during a year, and what they get
back; also what the government derives
from revenue on lottery winnings and what
it spends in trying to prevent lotteries. Then
we might guess how badly we are being
played for a sucker.
THE RECORDS OF THE STATE OIL
inspection office show that in January %
per cent of the gas taxes collected by the
state were refunded to users. The national
average is only four per cent, so it is quite
evident that Minnesota's oil inspection de-
partment is allowing an army of grafters
to sponge on the gas tax division. True, we
hear occasionally of an arrest and convic-
ton, but there is no reason why Minnesota
should be the outstanding culprit among the