| OCR Text |
Show Released by Western Newspaper Union. TJ. S. LAND PURCHASES POSE SERIOUS PROBLEMS SIX BILLION DOLLARS bought a lot of land. That represents the expenditure of the federal government govern-ment for real estate from 1941 to July, 1943. With such a sum, or to be exact, with $C, 447, 407, 000, the government gov-ernment purchased 47,000 square miles, 30,080,000 acres of land. According Ac-cording to Senator Byrd, the government's gov-ernment's present holdings of real estate total 395,978,724 acres. That would cover the total area of all six of the New England states and all of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Ohio, Illinois Il-linois and Indiana the land equivalent equiva-lent of 20 of our states. Of the purchases made between 1941 and '43, the Federal Real Estate Es-tate board, a government bureau, estimates a "fair market value" oi the land purchased to be $4,554,543,-000. $4,554,543,-000. The government paid a total of $1,892,864,000 more than the land was worth. That represented gov ernment generosity to the extent of some $63 an acre, but the purchasing purchas-ing agent was not spending his own money. When congress gets down to an investigation of war expenditures, as it will some time, we may know how much of those more than 3C million acres were not needed. There were undoubtedly some mistakes made. The sooner they are discovered discov-ered and the unneeded land is again in the hands of private owners, producing pro-ducing food for the world, the better it will be for all. The American people are called upon to provide the close to 6 billion bil-lion dollars to pay for those more than 30 million acres of land, but that is not the end of their obligation. They must also pay an increased state and local tax rate to make up the loss that federal ownership owner-ship of this land causes to state and local tax revenues. The purchase of that more than 30 million acres meant a loss in state and local tax revenues of $89,302,000 each year. That loss is shared by all of the states, ranging from $103,. 000 for little Delaware to $6,453,00C In California and $8,907,000 in New York. It took $4,972,000 out of the local and state tax revenue of thinlj populated Arizona, $3,522,000 out oi Nevada, $4,112,000 in Massachusetts, $2,904,000 in New Jersey, $2,228,00C in Illinois. In every state the local and state governments must gel along with less revenue or people oi the state must pay more because oi the purchase of that more than 31 million acres by the federal govern-ment. govern-ment. That tax revenue loss will continue until that land is again ii the hands of private owners. What would we do for local anc state tax revenue if the federal government gov-ernment owned all the land and all the industries? PRODUCTION OF SCARCITT AND OF PLENTY AS A CURE for the depression, tc insure the return of prosperity, we were told to restrict our productior of wheat, corn, cotton and othei crops. We destroyed millions o: pigs. We borrowed hundreds of mil lions of dollars with which to paj farmers for the crops they did noi raise all for the purpose of producing pro-ducing a scarcity out of which pros perity was to be created. The wai came and with it an ever-increasin demand for production and more production. That production did th job scarcity had failed to accom plish. Now Vice President Wallace tell us that by maintaining or increa ing that wartime production throur the postwar peace time years, v will be so prosperous that we w find no difficulty in carrying tl financial load the war and its afte math will have built. He says will mean taxes of some 45 billic dollars a year for us to pay, an that we can easily do that out our production income if we kee up the production. Personally agree with the need for the postwa production which the vice presider. voices, but "consistency, thou ar a jewel." WITH OUR AMERICAN Genera MacArthur commanding in Australi; and the South Pacific, our Americai General Eisenhower commanding ii the Mediterranean, our America! General Marshall commanding ii Europe, it would seem to be prett; much our American commandec war. With the help oi Russian gen erals, the British navy and air force , our generals and our armed force: are doing a good job. A 15-YEAR-OLD BOY, living a home, was seeking a job for th school vacation period. A prospec tive employer asked what wages tu would expect. 'I have been offeree a job at $25 a week but think .' should have $30," the boy replied He got the job at $30 and it will b( ' an expensive job for that boy. Som day the war will be over. Help wil j not be scarce. There will be a vas j difference between wartime anc peacetime demand. That boy wil object to working for a boy's wage: j in peacetime days. |
