| Show national affairs we are hearing a great deal these days daya about farm relief and the revision of the tariff and these questions are rightfully occupying a big place in public attention tion let us not lose sight eight of 0 the tact fact however lo wever that one ot of the greatest ot of all questions and one which affects farm atef to a certain extent Is that ol of tax reform one of the biggest obstacles which confronts the farmer in his efort ort t to 0 get back on the high road to prosperity Is the obstacle of increasing taxes axes the problem Is purely a local one few tanners farmers are affected directly at least by federal taxes the semiannual semi annual tax bill which confronts them is the one which represents their share in the payment of state and local expenses if the tanner Is to get further relief from his tax burdens therefore the remedy will have to be local the question may well be asked what Is causing or has caused the tremendous increase in the property tax which now burdens the real estate owners in the town and in the country certainly a great share of it Is rue to modern improvements prove ments we do not live as we did a generation or so ago tho the man in the country has better roads for instance than were enjoyed by the man in the city a dozen or so years ago the horse as a method of transportation has well nigh vanished and the high power automobile inthe to chile has taken its place the man mail inthe country now travels more swiftly and smoothly in his machine than the tho city man did in his electric transportation a few years ago we have improved in other ways the country schools of today are better than the city schools of a generation ago and every small community now has its hospital tor for the taking care of the sick and the injured in short the standard ol of living has improved in the city and in the country but there has been more relative improvement pro in the country than in the city all of this costs money and doubtless most of it Is worth the cost but if modern modem living Is worth more than a few years ago it also costs more and this cost must be made up in increased taxes to prevent unnecessary expenditure the public must always be on its guard for the average citizen must finally pay the c cost 0 s t either in increased taxes or in higher rent and increased cost of living reasonable and necessary improvements should bould s of course go forward but all proposals tor for new outlays of money should be carefully scanned by the man who Is interested because lie he must pay the bill por for instance the writers a attention tt en ti w was as called 1 l led recently to an item ina in a middie d western newspaper which set out t that ha arran arrangements gemer Is were being made tor for the improvement improve men t of a certain country countr school in a typical rural township in that state A few years ago this school buld ng was pointed out as a model rural school it contained and still contains modern modem equipment equip merit laboratories dabs looms playgrounds and nearly everything that was supposed at that 1 time to mike make up a modern school house but now it is proposed by the local officials to spend nearly a hundred thousand dollars to improve the school house further the building Is thlu solid and in modern dern but it Is set out in the news di dispatch mentioned above that a new gymnasium Is needed the inference being that the school possesses no adequate quate place for physical training NOW mow it happens that physical training in this particular instance means training the basketball team for this school there are tw two 0 or three other consolidated schools wa within thin a radius of a few miles including a small email city high school and basketball rivalries are intense the proposal really therefore Is to spend the money of tho the taxpayers most of whom are farmers lor for training quarters tor for the schools basketball team which of course comprises only a handful of the children attending the school basketball Is undoubtedly a clean american sport end and one which ought to bo be encouraged but this instance Is cited as an example of an occasion on which at t least due clue consideration ought to be given to the taxpayers before the improvement PT pro 0 Is made and there are hundreds dr eds of other examples ot of a similar nature ure throughout the country high taxes are not only burdensome to the individual but they hurt business no new enterprises will go into a community burdened with high taxes it behooves us therefore to do what we can to see that the tax burden Is made as light as Is consistent with good government and sane and comfortable living |
