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Show Slabs or Schools Driving through Utah last fall and on my way back to Washington in December De-cember I noticed a startling contrast. con-trast. Scores of times, I drove alongside huge, weedgrown airports air-ports , their expensive concrete runways buckling from lack of maintenance and use. When I entered en-tered the towns bordering the airports, air-ports, I notice that the schools were old fashioned and in many instances the town had outgrown the facilities of its city hall. Easy Money? Obviously, the taxpayers of the particular towns should have new schools before ! unneeded ail-ports. That this didn't occur was because of the Government's Govern-ment's "give away" program in Federal airport construction. After taxing the people dry, the government govern-ment offered to return a part of the money to build ail-ports, if the local citizens would match this money being returned from Washington. Wash-ington. Some Good Of course, not all -airports jointly financed by this method -were unnecessary.. Several very important improvements in Utah and elsewhere were brought about by this method. Yet millions of dollars which should have gone into other needed municipal muni-cipal improvements were siphoned siphon-ed off by the Federal "match-me-and-its-yours" system of distributing distribu-ting airport funds. Clipped Wings This 'high-flying free-spending program is going to be grounded for a thorough examination, ex-amination, Secretary of Commerce Weeks told the House Appropriations Appropria-tions Committee this week. No new projects will be approved until they have been resurveyed. The ultimate aim will be to cut out wasteful airport building, return- j ing the funds to the taxpayers in ! the form of tax reductions. Mr. J Weeks believes the taxpayer, not i the Federal Government should de- cide whether a new airport is necessary in his community. Unneeded, over-elaborate airports air-ports should not be built on the theory that "It's Federal money, and Federal money is free." I have found out a tax dollar doesn't go very far particularly when it's sent back from Washington. Some Survivors Of course the temporary discontinuation of new projects does not mean an end to airport construction. Those projects pro-jects needed and under construction construc-tion such as at Salt Lake City's bustling air terminal will continue con-tinue ot receive aid. And those which, after careful study, are found necessary will qualify. But the practice of building runways because money was there, is dead. The new Administration is, in effect, ef-fect, asking each taxpayer to reconsider re-consider what he wants done with his dollar. |