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Show THE CITIZEN playground of the world, where the infernal regions hiss hot vapors and spout boiling waters and underground rumblings inject fear to the timid. Natures beautiful colorings in painted a hillsides and scenic wonders beyond description complete a view beyond the pen of men. No doubt the President has read much, and viewed pictures with interest of this wonder park, but when he beheld all with the naked eye he must have realized how futile mans efforts are in description. for rate making purposes must be that valuations may fluctuate rapidly due to causes entirely beyond the control of either the people or the companies ; that it is essential that rates be subject to revision, either up or down, as readily as are commodity prices or wages. Of what practical use is a 1916 valuation on an automobile plant from the standpoint of arriving at production or price figfor automobiles today! ures - AN HONORED GIFT. TELEPHONES. The Rotarians have donated their beautiful park in City Creek canyon to the city. This is the kind of civic pride that builds the real foundations of a growing community. That Rotary club must have a real bunch of live members who boost tlieir home city by doing thing?. The park is for the use and enjoyment of all the people, and in behalf of all the people The Citizen wishes to thank the members of the Rotary club for its magnificent gift to the city. Some of the best informed persons on American industry town might smile dubiously were they told that a of 23,000 inhabitants has twice as many telephones as one of the most famous cities of the world with a population of almost 500,000. Yet it would be true. The town is Beloit, Wisconsin, and the city Venice, Italy. This fact tells the story of the difference between the new world method of encouraging private initiative and enterprise as contrasted with the old world method of governmental domination of industry and the individual. pan-oram- ' 5 REAL PUNTER WANTED. ? Looks like this innocent Boulder dam project has developed into a real political football for which all are scrambling to make a touchdown, but the goal appears to be too far distant for any of the participants so far named in the game. Looks like another Muscle Shoals. Some of the people suing our county commissioners for dam- ages have been arrested and convicted for bootlegging liquor. People are beginning to wonder what all the noise is about. Scandal generally falls flat when once cornered. RATE FIXING. up-to-da- te; mid-weste- rn RECORD SURPLUS. The Federal Government concluded its fiscal year on June 30 with the greatest surplus in the recorded annals of the nation, $635,809,921.70. The year also saw a reduction in the public debt of $1,131,000,000. The average interest rate paid by the government during the twelve months was 3.9 per cent. This is the first time since the World War that the government has paid less than an average of 4 per cent interest. The Federal Government has been able to make these great savings in operation, not only because of the prosperous condition of our nation, but because of the fact that those charged with the administration of government and the expenditure of money have become economy-mindeThey pay attention to small details. Economy-mindedneis bound to bring saving and efficiency in government. Representative Green of Council Bluffs, Iowa, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, will call that committee to meet October 31 to consider the revision of the United States revenue laws and the proposal for a further reduction of Federal taxes. This will give the committee about five weeks before the opening session of congress to hear and prepare a new revenue bill. During the past month Senators and Congressmen have reiterated that' the rates in the higher brackets must be reduced. The lowering of rates on incomes below $25,000 has resulted in a reduction in revenue. The lowering of rates, normal and surtax, from 46 per cent to 25 per cent, on incomes above $25,000 has resulted in an increase in revenue, according to treasury records. Incomes above $25,000 are in many cases largely from investments. Is it unreasonable to believe that the lower rates on these incomes will bring money from tax exempt securities into productive industry! Will this encourage the declaring of dividends, which, in turn, will increase the volume of taxable income and thereby increase revenue receipts! High income tax rates drive investors from new and hazardous enterprises where an element of chance is very great, into tax exempt securities Avliere there are no taxes, no risks, no responsibilities. d. Rejecting a claim of the railroad for a figure of $750,000,000, the Interstate Commerce Commission has fixed a final valuation for rate making purposes of $579,057,598 upon the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railroad, as of June, 1916. In making final the Santa Fe figures, the news report says: The Commission adopted the price levels of 1914 as a guide and rgfused to concede that the much higher levels of prices in years subsequent to 1914, should be allowed to affect the valuation of the railroads. The Interstate Commerce Commission is a powerful body and has done much to stabilize our transportation structure and enable American railroads to develop along normal lines. The method of reasoning of the Commission, however, which refuses to take into consideration higher price levels, is difficult to understand. Laborer, manufacturer and housewife know that wages, as well as the cost of practically every commodity used in daily life or operation of industry have shown great increases in price. Railroads which buy practically everything that is manufactured, as well as food grown on the farm, are paying these increases as well as increased wages. How increased costs of construction can be figured as not increasing the value of the physical properties of the railroads, is hard to understand. The man who builds a house today must sell it for nearly double what the same house would have cost to construct in 1914. Undoubtedly the railroads, because of purchasing in larger quantities, can buy more cheaply than a private individual, but even so, they must be paying greatly increased prices over 1914. If the decision of the Commission merely means it has estabOIL. lished the value of the Santa Fe properties for a period not later than 1916, of what use is the decision for rate making purposes G in 1917, eleven The oil industry today represents a total of $11,000,000,000 years later! It took ten years to arrive at this finding. If the valuation set by the Commission is ten years out invested capital. It furnishes employment to about 1,500,000 people. of date when it is handed down, of what practical use is it in It is owned by 1,500,000 stockholders, bond holders and roycourrent rate controversies! The public believes in sound regulation of public utilties alty owners. Its products furnish to American railroads more than one- and railroad companies. It also understands that valuations ss |
