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Show TIME TO HALT. "Has not tlm time como to call a hnt to tho hooiik's expenditure of ptiblii' fund.s? Has not tho time eomo to hold t lie co. "-it of government within reason -aide hounds ? In ' days when the. individual must economize in many directions to keep within his income, tho state, the city and tlm county should not continue to he spendthrifts. The public officials of lrt;ih snem to have lost their hearings in an oeean of taxation and reckless ex-jietKlituro. ex-jietKlituro. Is it not time for them to hct themselves right, time to tako the a fe course ami keep to it? Mere economizing hero and there will not accomplish the result the people of the state have been longing to achieve. Something more comprehensive than clipping off a few dollars here and a few there must he put in force. Money has been spent by wholesale for what must-be must-be termed luxuries. The ofiicials seem to believe that they or the public should have all of the best tilings that can be obtained, that there should bo no limit to innovations, to public commissions and to ways and means of; spending money. The business man has had reason to understand un-derstand tho deplorable results of riotous expenditure and soaring taxes. Investments Invest-ments in real estate and business enterprises enter-prises are not bringing fair returns. And not only tho business niau who is here, but the business man who would he here if taxes were less, understands the situation. It is all very pleasant to be spending spend-ing hundredsof thousands of dollars for all kinds of improvements, but the reaction reac-tion is destructive. We are simply driving away the capital we should have lor the development of the state. Corporations Cor-porations and business men seeking opportunities op-portunities for investment will not invest in-vest here when the cost of doing business busi-ness is made prohibitive by excessive taxation. From time to time we have been promised lower tax rates. We have heard the promises with delight, and our disappointment, therefore, has .been nil the keener when tax rates, instead of being lowered, have been increased. Various excuses have .been offered for i lie failure to keep the pledges. A public pub-lic official is fortunate in being able to make excuses and still draw his salary. A busiuess man who fails because ho lias spent more than his business can take in finds no comfort in excuses. Some of our officials seem to ignore the fact that every day they are spending t he business ma a 's money. They are adding something to his expenditures which makes it impossible for him to earn what he should on his investments. He can control certain expenditures, but seemingly "he cannot control the taxes. While he economizes, his money is bo ing squandered by public officials. At a time of unexampled prosperity the business man has a right to ask why his returns, are so inadequate for the amount of capital invested. The answer to his inquiry he finds without difficulty. His public servants are spending too much of his money on needless things. While ho uses the street cars, his public servants think they must have runabouts run-abouts and touring cars. The situation grows serious he-cause he-cause the state is receiving advertisement advertise-ment of a most unenviable kind. If e are really to prosper we must let the rest of the world know that in Vtah an investor will be protected from excessive ex-cessive taxes, that if he places his money here he will not be compelled to pay all of the profits into the public coffers. All sensible men who have experience of business can understand why there must be a change. The credit of Utah must not be further impaired. Stops must be taken to restore our public expenditures ex-penditures to a reason able basis. |