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Show New Trends in Government There is a new movement going on today .which though not broadly publicized, holds immense significance for every citizen. Definite headway is being made toward getting the federal government out of competition with tax-paying private commercial enterprise. Short of providing pro-viding adequate national defense, this is the most important import-ant thing from the standpoint of keeping our country the sort of place in which we want to live. Recently 24 synthetic rubber factories were turned over to private industry for a net profit to the government of $35,000,000. A bill has been introduced which would get the federal government out of the city-running business at Oakridge, Term., and Richland, Wash., and save the taxpayers tax-payers $1,500,000 annually. An article-in Time magazine states that "in scores of other nooks and crannies of government, less dramatic ways have been found to eliminate competition with private pri-vate business. The defense department has shut down 24 scrap metal operations, seven bakeries, nine laundries, a chain factory, a caustic soda plant, four cement mixing plants, a tire retreading plant, two garden nurseries and four ice plants." The federal government $40,000,000,000 investment in over 100 different types of tax-exempt businesses busi-nesses is getting small. It's a heartening thing to see somebody some-body patching a few of the cracks in the foundations of our free enterprise economy. |