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Show Jean popular government really is to be made effective, each stock- j holder of the public business which is of course each and every citizen citi-zen interested in the welfare of this country must be intelligently in- j formed. The details and ramifications of modern government are too varied to know how each tax dollar is spent or to judge the ef- j fectiveness or ineffectiveness of the methods by which each public' function is carried on, without the aid of some organized interpret- j ing society. Public understanding and support of tax measures is necessary as a check on public affairs. Public administrators very often fail to ferret out and apply changes in procedure which would contribute to economy and efficiency. Changes in methods are usually impossible impos-sible without the organized activity and demand from citizens. Personal interest in, and knowledge of tax problems, are sentries sen-tries at the tax exit gate. It is the means by which the public is kept informed on the progress of public business. Individual interest in the problems of the government and taxation, will bear fruit a hundred hun-dred fold in improved governmental services to the people. There is food for serious thought in this contention. It is true that the average av-erage citizen does not have time to go into the records of the county, state and municipal government to see just what is being done with the taxpayers' money. And yet all of us ought to be better informed as to just what is going on. Of course, a great many of our civic societies and commercial organizations are now of service along this line and can continue to be of service. And it is here also that the local newspaper can render ren-der real service to the community. The local newspaper is admirably equipped to give this service to the public and in most cases willing to do so. The 1928 campaign i3 coming on and it s hoped that it wll bea. campaign of education rather than villification. One of the best kinds of education a public can get is education on the management manage-ment of local affairs. After all, most of the taxes we pay are spent at home for local improvement and local necessities and the people who pay ought to have something to say about what is being done with the money. And they can have something to say if they will keep close tuoch on the subject. KEEP INFORMED A well known economist declared recently that if our Ameri- |
