Milford chronicle., 1961-09-22
PLACE TO START

PLACE TO START
The military budget, following the mas
sive increases asked by the President in his
Congress that followed the next day. is
some S47.5 billion for this fiscal year. The
result will be deficit of billions.
1t is obviously necessary to now reduce
government costs wherever possible
The President has taken some notice of
this need. Specifically he pointed to the post
Office deficit. 1t runs to about 500 million
year. The only remedy is higher post Of
flee charges.
Congress has always been reluctant to
increase the rates for letter, newspapers
and magazines. 1t still is-the House Post
Office Committee voted July 20 to defer &C
ton in postal rate increases. But there is
at least one post office function-parcel post
which is in an entirely different category.
1t is not basic function. 1t is entirely COM
mercial in nature. 1t serves no purpose of
public enlightenment and education, as does
the carrying of the mails, newspapers and
magazines. 1t completes directly with pri-
vate parcel carriers. And its rates are not
sufficient to pay the costs.
Parcel post is an excellent place to start
in reducing the post Office deficit.
GASOLINE, WATER, AND THE HORSE
When government decides that it needs
more money for some project or other, how
can it raise it?
There's an easy and obvious answer
; impose new taxes or increase existing taxes.
However, that answer is not always
true one. For the law of diminishing re-
turns can apply to taxation as well as to
other matters.
Take as a prime example, the gasoline
tax-state and federal combined now aver
age some 10 cents gallon, or about half
the retail price of gas before taxes.
This excessive tax, an executive of
leading oil company points out, is proving
to be self-defeating. By 1865, he predicts,
the states will be deriving seven per cent
less from the gas taxes than they planned,
which will throw highway budgets far out
of killer in numbers of instances. His esti-
mate, he adds, is borne out by figures re-
leased by the Federal Bureau of Public
Roads.
In sum, motorists are rebelling at tax
on a necessity which is far larger than the
taxes on even extreme luxuries. Their re-
bellion takes the practical form of reduced
gas consumption. They drive less, or they
buy more and more of the compact economy
cars, or they do both.
Remember-yOu can lead horse to wa
ter, but you can't make him drink!
5000
CRAZY SITUATION
Either Intentionally or unintentionally
Congress is setting the stage for social
cation of American railroads 1t is doing
this by failure to repeal or correct Outdated
laws Of its own making. When the rails
face bankruptcy, the friends of specialization
will start their drive for government own
ership of our transportation system
Congressional inquiries for years have
gone through the farce of studying" the
railroad problems, which Congress largely
created. Then nothing Of real Importance
is done to correct injustices.
At the present time an inquiry launched
by President Eisenhower is to bring in rec
concentrations by the first of the year. But
if Congress follows it's usual procedure of
playing politics with the rails, it will do
nothing That is the pattern, instead Of
granting the railroads relief SO they can
solve their own problems.
Forces in and out of Congress that have
been promoting socialzed electric power
industry will use a railroad crisis to start
their drive for government ownership of
the rails.
Russia's railroads and power plants are
socialized and Khrushchev says our grand
children will live under socialism. Our law
makers seem to be giving him grounds for
that statement as they undermine our CAPT
talistc system with socialistic projects of
one kind or another.
What confidence will the rest Of the So
called free world have in us as it sees our
own lawmakers failing to support our free
enterprise, capitalist system Russian backs
communism in no uncertain terms while we
sell our private property system short right
here at home. It's crazy picture any way
you look at it. We don't deserve the bless