OCR Text |
Show Ona in Four Depend Dy Public Funds The Utah Taxpayers association calls attention to the number of persons In Utah who are dependent on public money for their livelihood. First of all there are 28,337 persons on the state welfare rolls. Then there are 24,303 employes Of the state government, cities, towns, counties, school districts, etc. Finally there are 21.378 federal employes. All told that makes 72,018 persons on the publie pay roll either as employes or recipients of relief. Many of these Individuals have dependents. de-pendents. Certainly that would be true of most of those who were government employes. Undoubtedly as many as 150,-000 150,-000 U terms, and perhaps ss many as 200.000 Utahns, are supported through taxes. That is around a fourth of our people, ' Actually a fifth of all those gainfully employed In the state are on government pay rolls and that doesn't take Into consideration con-sideration those on relief. Utah's situation compared with the country as a whole is out of line. We " had 3T.1 full and part time state and local public employes per 1000 Inhabitants Inhabi-tants compared to a U. S. average of 27 J. We had 45.3 federal employes per 1000 population compared to the U. 8. average of 18.1. We are therefore top-heavy top-heavy on public employment partly due . to an unusually large number of state and local employes and partly due to ths many military establishments in the state which swell federal employment employ-ment figures. , Nevertheless the burden of public . employment and relief recipients Is meaningful. The ratio in Utah is probably prob-ably better than one person out of four supported with pubUe funds. We would not have to go much further to start the downhill ride to 100 per cent support sup-port on public funds. And that's socialism social-ism or totalitarianism or communism, or whatever other name you want to give total state control. |