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Show o A LOW DEATH RATE. A communication, entitled "Taxes Are Too High," appeared ap-peared a few weeks ago in one of the newspapers of tho state. It was signed "A Taxpayer" and protested against the increase in the tax rate. The writer produced figures showing the rapid increase in taxes on rea estate since 1910. He condemned that increase as unnecessary and unjustifiable and demanded that taxes be reduced to the 1910 level and kept there. There is probably some justification for such a protest. pro-test. We know that we do not always receive full value for our public expenditures. But conditions in this respect re-spect are no worse than formerly. In fact, we usually demand a more exact accounting from our public servants serv-ants than we did a few years ago. The increase in taxes is due chiefly to the fact that government, national, state, county and municipal performs per-forms today many functions that in the past were left to private enterprises or were not performed at all. Not many years ago we depended on volunteer fire fighters equipped with buckets and hand pumps. Today we support sup-port costly municipal fire departments, but the reduction reduc-tion in fire loss makes it true economy. Increased complexity com-plexity of life has increased the cost o law enforcement. Parks and playgrounds are now provided by'publid funds. Where formerly we traveled to market through deep mud or dust, according to the season, we now demand concrete highways and add a few mills to our taxes. The cost of schools has increased but with an equal or greater increase in-crease in their efficiency and value. Dr. Irving Fisher of. Yale University estimates the average economic value of a human life at $2700. Accepting Accept-ing this estimate, we find that the people of Utah lose about five million dollars annually from deaths, and probably prob-ably a greater amount from sickness. One-third of this loss could be prevented by efficient health administration. The failure to appropriate money for health protection is responsible for a tremendous economic loss to our citizens. citi-zens. Public money spent for capable health officers, sanitation, milk inspection, etc, yields a return of many fold. Most citizens pay far more for medical care because be-cause of preventable diseases than for taxes. A few added dollars in taxes, if wisely used, may save the taxpayer hundreds of dollars in doctors' fees, loss of productive labor, and funeral expenses. "A low death rate is better than a low tax rate." If we cannot lower both, by all means let us lower the death rate, even though it should cost us an increase in our taxes. |