Milford chronicle., 1955-08-05
BRITAIN's WORST DEFEAT

tress in Malaga, on February ID, 1912. Sing
apore had been considered impregnable, and
SO perhaps it was to frontal attacks.
The British commanders forgot that
there was a rear approach through the
jungle Perhaps they did think of it, but as
sumed that the jungle was impossible. The
Japanese did not, and entering Singapore
from the rear, captured it and 10000 troops.
Singapore had been thought the key to all
the British possessions in Southeast Asia
and the Pacific NJ wonder Churchill called
this "the worst disaster and largest capltu-
ation in British history
Who was to blame? No one knows for
certain. No postwar investigation was held,
as we did after Pearl Harbor.
Why was there no lnqueStl No one Knows
but the old school tie may have been a factor
An investigation might have revealed
shameful incompetence on the part OF high
figures, social and political. Some have NAM
ed the late Sir Robert Brooke-Popham vice
admiral of the Air Force and commander In
the Far East He at least was in position
to foresee the catastrophe, and either pre-
vent or to demand help.
NZoNE
LET'S HAVE AN HONEST "YARDSTICK"
A news article in the New York Times
says that the Hoover Commission has been
preparing a report recommending that
rates for all Federally-produced electric pow
all such projects under the Federal Power
Commission and revise rates to include the
equivalent of Federal, state and local taxes
and other costs now paid by private power
companies.
This proposal will be bitterly protested
by two grOups-those who want to keep on
having their electric bills subsidized by all
the rest of US, and those whose dream is a
federal electric power monopoly. Everybody
else-which means the vast majority of the
people-should applaud it. Federal power
projects either pay no taxes at all or rela-
lively small sums in lieu of taxes to local
government-the buSineSS-managed utilities
pay an average of % per cent of all their
revenues in taxes. Federal projects have all
manner of other costly advantages-each and
every one of which must be paid for by the
general taxpayers.
There is growing resentment ct this Situ-
alton. A widely-held view was expressed by
Representative Hand of New Jersey, when
he said that he was unable to accept the prop
ostion that the people of his state SHOULD
be taxed to build steam plants in Tennessee
so the people of that area can obtain cheap
electricity" To add insult to injury, he con-
tinued, ''The people of other states are not
only paying the cost of that power develop
ment, but at the same time we are losing
our industries" Nobody can compete when
the public Treasury foots a part of the bills.
! Put federal power on the same basis of
doing business as private power-and then
we'll finally learn what the federal yard
stick" rate structure should be.
NS0NS
UNJUST TAXES
The National Conference for Repeal of
Taxes on Transportation has called on Con-
gress to repeal the 10 per cent excise tax on
passenger fares which has to be paid hy those
who use public carrier service along with
the three per cent tax on freight charges
,evied only on freight moved by public for
hire carriers, and taxes levied on the move
ment of coal and of products which move by
pipeline
These taxes were originally imposed dur
ing World War IL as an emergency measure.
Their purpose was to discourage unneces-
sary use of war-burdened transportation
agencies, as well as to raise revenue. Now
the emergency has passed, and all the car
riers have plenty of available space for both
passengers and goods. Yet the taxes remain
In effect, and still discourage travel at time
when there is no need for that whatsoever.
The Conferences statement observes that
the taxes fall upon one of life's basic ne
sitieS-transportatiOn" and that they
create great injustice to the travelling and
shipping public" There is no question of
permitting anyone involved to avoid regular
established taxes. 1t is simply matter of
getting rid OF what amount TO class taxes
which unjustly burden certain categories of
individuals and enterprises. The Conference
is right.
goN%
LOW DEPTHS AND NEW HEIGHTS
A short time ago the worlds deepest oil
we'll was abandoned 1t had reached 21 ,482
feet had consumed l IT'S days of drilling and
testing, and had cost more than $4,000, 900.
The reason for abandonment was simple
there was no OIL
On the face of it, that well was total
failure, at a heavy cost on money and effort
But there's another side to the coin. As
the American Petroleum Institute put it,
This may be called an example of sinking
to low depths to reach new heights" For
the well, even though it turned out dry, prov
ed that modern rotary equipment in the
hands of skilled crews is capable of drilling
four miles into tho aarth Thuc tho Lno.1rI-