OCR Text |
Show THE TAX-EXEMPT ARMY. With the emergency and national relief and recovery legislation that has been passed, government has launched itself into practically every field of endeavor. The scope of its power is so wide that private citizens and industries do not yet know how they will be affected in fact, government govern-ment departments are not fully conversant con-versant with their own powers. In the administration of the new legislation affecting business and agriculture ag-riculture and in the expenditure of the billions of dollars that have been appropriated ap-propriated for new governmental functions, tens of thousands of individuals indi-viduals will become the beneficiaries of public funds. It is probably not an exaggeration to say that in another five years millions mil-lions of citizens may be classed as public servants with all or part of their salaries tax-exempt under the privilege legislation that attaches to their position. This army of office-holders will gain constantly greater power in elections elec-tions to perpetuate their own jobs, which while inaugurated as "relief" measurse will stand every chance of becoming permanent burdens on taxpayers, tax-payers, -who are not granted federal exemptions. During the present depression emer- J gency seeds are being sown which may produce dragon teeth in the harvest. har-vest. The people may face another emergency in the very near future of j ; controlling the overhead and expan- j sion of government which was created to meet the unemployment emergency. ! Now is the time to "check and double! check" on our future course. j |