OCR Text |
Show THE PEOPLE REVOLT AGAINST DEBT. Signs indicate that the American people are at last awakening to the danger of tax-creating, property-confiscating bond issues. A few weeks ago a special election elec-tion was held in Rhode Island, in which voters were called upon to pass on a number of proposals for building public works, and carrying on other activities in the name of relief. In spite of the facts that passage of all the bills would have increased the state's bonded indebtedness by about 50 per cent, the "dope" had it that the measures, with their political backing, would pass. The "dope" missed. Rhode Island citizens voted down all but one of the measures, by heavy majorities. The measure that passed provided for direct relief to the needy, and is designed to achieve the necessary purpose at a minimum cost without saddling the taxpayers with unnecessary unneces-sary and expensive public works, j A short time later the voters of California met a similar crisis at the polls. Several measures which would have put that already debt-ridden , state farther into debt, were on the j ballot. An awakened citizenry swung the axe and when the votes were counted the measures had taken Siearty lickings. It is to be hoped that these elec-; lions, in widely separated states, are symbolic of the national trend of thought. The most menacing govern-' mental ventures of recent years have been those which have piled debt up- on debt, put government into competition compe-tition with private business, increased : taxes, weakened state credit and created cre-ated industrial fear. This course has mnde it next to impossible to create ncrmal jobs because private industry, sole source of productive employment, is afraid to take chances in the ?:". e of confiscatory taxation, legislation and regulation. We are draw!ng capital capi-tal into tax-free federal bonds where its chief benefits accrue to our growing grow-ing bureaucracy, not to the people or th-3 needy. Follow Rhode Island and California in defeating tax-creating bond issues.' |