The people's voice. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1939-1969, 1945-12-07

to continue, and even be accelerated
, Montana institutions must offer serv
ice comparable to that of out-of-statt
, institutions in the fields in which they
feasibly can do so; and one of these
is general education. Montana cannot
compete, and should not try to do so
in such fields as medicine; but it can
offer to the vast reservoir of youth
now receiving no college training al
all, or those who survive only couple
of years in some out-of-state school
the necessary encouragement and
council, and an adequate general edu
cation
Montana institutions, including the
public schools, must also broaden their
community service. In most of our
communities, the school is the princi-
pal building; yet it serves a group
within an age range of dozen years
only, and it is locked up in the mid
die of the afternoon, during weekends
and in the summer. Consider the
economic waste of that The six in
situations included in the University
of Montana are currently serving, on
their campuses, only $500 of the
states 460,0 people. Agricultural
extension serves thousands of farm
ers, but this-aside from its home
making features, perhaps-is not gen.
eral education. A few hundred take
/ M Of %.
ums served by personnel from various
units of the greater university. Half
dozen study clubs have been estab.
lished by the Montana Study on an
experimental basis; this is a co-opera-
tive undertaking of a great national
foundation and the University of Mon
tana under which the major portion
of the finance. so far, has been pro-
vided by the foundation. The response
to the programs of community analy
sis and the humanities experiments,
such as community drama, offered by
the Montana Study is proof, l think
that Montana adults wang broader
educational service In fact, the pres
ent appeals for new study groups
15-have far outrun the ability of the
staff, which has but one full-time and
two part-time members, to provide
the service.
"
Inevitably, one reaches the point
where you, the listeners, say: This
may be all to the good, this broaden
ing of our educational service. But
where is the money coming from?"
All right; let's plunge into the prob
lem of finance. From now on this dis
cussion is not going to be easy; nor
will it be so polite.
| have been disturbed In recent |
months to hear educators toying with |
such political dynamite as the sales |
tax. Recognizing the schools desper- |
ate need and seeing no other way out, |
some have said that perhaps sales
tax would not be so bad after all.
think this attitude is most danger
Gus. Nothing can ever make sales
tax just tax, because it takes the
biggest proportion from the income
of those least able to pay. No other
tax is as thoroughly hated by the low
income worker and farmer, or the
government employee. No
tax would be as severe a burden upon
the teacher. Montana educators can
not afford to ALLEVIATE this huge seq
ment of the Montana population by
of sales tax, even unoffi-
cially and in whispers
And anyway, it won't work-unless
Montana's powerful labor and Farm
ers Union movements should be de-
stroyed, and that does not appear like
y in the near future. There have
been several attempts in this state to
impose sales tax, and all have failed.
But there are things that will work;
here are other ways out of our fl
lancial dilemma.
One of these is federal aid and we
night as well get that out of the way
1t once.
We need and should have federal
lid; probably we must have it if we
ire to maintain even average stan t
lards in Montana. There is not one |
legitimate argument against it, in my {
opinion. t
Equality of education is national t
responsibility, as much SO as communi- /
alton or commerce. This has already t
,een recognized, in such developments /
IS the Civilian Conservation Corps, {