Milford chronicle., 1958-01-24
Govt. Modernization
Urged By P. S. Dup ont
(continued from page one)

urged by r. =. OuF ont
continued from page onel
the strait jacket of the "old OK
cart model" system of government.
Addressing the Wilmington jun
ior Chamber of Commerce Young
Man of the Year Award luncheon,
he linked his proposal with an ap-
peal for the exercise of personal
responsibility by the people of Del
aware to bring about a better sys-
ten of government. He pointed out
that the one quality shared by all
Young Men of the Year is their
acceptance of personal response
bility to the community.
Our greatest danger at the pres
ent moment is not the empty trea-
suries of Delaware and Whining
ton, nor our antiquated machinery
of government. nor even the inter-
continental missiles developed by
Communist Russia. What we have
most to fear throughout America,
as in Delaware, is continued public
Indifference to the problems we
must share in free society,""
Mr.. DUPONT emphasized that citi-
zens should blame their own in
difference for present difficulties,
rather than officeholders and poll
ticians. The latter, he said, reflect
the will of the people or they don't
stay in office Il have nothing but
sympathy" he said, for the Off
cials who are trying, with few ex-
ceptions, to do the best they can
to patch things up. What does con-
Germ me, and / know it concerns
you, is the imperative necessity
for measures that are more than
patchwork to give us assurance
for the future"
The state is broke and so is Will
mington, he said. I'VE have been
going through series of fire alarm
crises for several months, and as
result, we now have a Delaware
corporate income tax with an eff
fective rate exceeded in only eight
other states, and a personal in
come tax ir Delaware with an ef-
fective rate exceeded by only one
state. Despite these new and high
er taxes, the Governor has recently
warned the General Assembly that
the financial condition of the State
of Delaware is still a very serious
natter
1.-The population of Delaware is
growing at one of the fastest rates
in the country. We are in grave
need now of better streets and
highways. We will need more
schools. The swift and haphazard
development of suburban territory
is presenting increasingly difficult
problems. Yet because of public
Indifference and public apathy, we
are trying to meet these twentieth
century pressures in the strait
jacket of nineteenth century
system of government, so we re-
sort to crash programs dealing
with the symptoms rather than the
disease which afflicts us.
/ am quite convinced that if il
took any business management q
year to find out whether it was
operating in TIE red or in the
black, there would be a new ac-
counting system or q new manage
ment, or both. Yet this is precise
ly what has just taken place in
Delaware. | am also quite certain
the management of any company
which didn't have budgetary con-
troll over the various departments
would call the job Impossible. Yet
l am told our state has more than
one hundred departments, COM
missions, and agencies over which
the Governor has no budgetary au-
thority.
Lets face it. The vehicle we
call government in Delaware and
Wilmington is an old OK cart mod
ell which has been dressed up from
time to time with new tenders but
was never designed for the job ii
has to do today. 1t may have pow
er steering-although | have never
been able to discover the source of
the powerful the motor knocks
even when it is going downhill as
it seems to have been doing over
the last several years"
The people of Delaware cannot
afford to wait for another crisis,
or still higher taxes, to shake us
out of our civic lethargy," Mr.. du-
POnt declared. "The present situa-
tion has led to speculation whether
new business and industry will To-
cate here, or choose a state where
the tax burden on both industry
and its employees is less burden
some. The time to determine what,
if anything, can be done is now,
when the problem can be studied
calmly and deliberately in spirit
of good will directed toward posi-
tive, constructive accomplishment.
Let's get something done, and leave
the name-calling and recrimina-
tions for next fall"