The Daily Alaska empire., 1941-04-14

S10.000 slashed off the requested S30000 in the first skirmish. There was sufficient indignation and spirit among the free members of the Legislature so that S5,C00 of this was restored; but the final figure was still $5,000 less than was required.
 The Lobby said. You shall not have new Territorial Building
 And although Alaska's govern ment can scarcely operate for lack of space, there was no Territorial Building
 Reforms Perish
 Incidental to the Lobby's stra- tegy of obstruction and delay, worthwhile measures, often involv- ing no increased expenditures, re- forms long sought by Alaskas civic bodies Womens clubs, the Ameri- can perished Thus died the bills for a juvenile code-to prevent little children from being stigmatized as criminals-and the bill amending the mothers allow ance law, both recommended by the Department of Public Welfare. The Lobby was too busy with it's slaughter to worry about innocent victims.
 The Lobby on the whole won a sweeping victory To be sure 1t suffered a few set-backs It man. aged to secure cuts in many appro priations that were needed; it managed to defeat all tax legisla- ton which would have distributed the burden equitably and have reached those who have hitherto not borne a fraction Of their just share; and it is highly possible that some worthwhile appropria- tions Were made only because the Lobby knew funds for them might not, be available
 | With a. one third increase m ! population in decade and fur ther growth in prospect, our prob lems could be. taken care of largely I by a -revamping of our obsolete and inadequate tax structure. Such a revision would permit our new and increased activities. not now taxed. to pay a small share of their bur den. At present the influx of peo- pie into an Alaska community cre- ates new requirements-fo schools, streets, public utilities, and so forth. At the same time this in- flux creates prosperity: merchants do much larger business. But under our rigid and outworn tax system the Territorial Treasury gets no additional receipts. In other words. Alaska while called upon to furnish new facilities, yet gets no corresponding tax benefits from the increased business and new construction activities. The extremely moderate net income and property taxes proposed to the Fif- i teenth Legislature would have rem edied this difficulty.
 Most Lightly Taxed
 The Lobby's cry was that with increased Federal taxes for defense impending, this was no time for any new Territorial taxes. The facts are that Alaska is by far the most lightly taxed entity under the flag, that in no other part of the union do so many occupations, cat egories or individuals escape appre- ciable taxation; that after enjoy ing a 70 percent increase in the price of gold for the four years from 1893 to 1887 without an ad- ditional cent of taxation, a three percent gross tax with S20,000 ex- emption alone has been levied on Alaska's gold industry; that under this exemption over $5,0000O0 worth of gold is taken out of Alaska an- nually without paying one cent oi tax to the Territory; that many states with already adequate tax burdens are taxing. themselves fur ther to meet their needs; that the Territory is now at an all-time high of prosperity; that the Ma tional Defense program is still fur ther augmenting this prosperity; but that very little of this new wealth is staying in Alaska AL though Governor Langlie's message to the Washington Legislature, in which economy was urged, was quoted by one of the leading Alas kan lobbyists, he did not state that nevertheless the Washington Legis- lature finally adopted, in order to provide adequate governmental ser vices to the people of that state. the largest budget in it's history and increased taxes all along the line.
 Senators Frightened, BamboozIed'
 The Lobby was able to frighten one Senator, to bamboozle another, and these in addition to those al- ready fin the bag were sufficient With ample opportunity for intel liBent discussion and an honest facing of Alaska's problems, the ftyrof,1p tax hill uoc rat,or oivo,,