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Show False Vs. Wise Economy GOV. J. BRACKEN LEE has done one important favor for " the peope of Utah in encouraging all of us to think more about economy in government. However, in order to stimulate stimu-late sane thinking about the full meaning of economy, we would like to make a few observations about one of Gov. Lee's statements this week. Here's the quotation from the daily press: "I think it (the prison site) should be sold to the highest high-est bidder. It must be remembered that this land, if sold to private individuals or firms, would become taxable and pour needed dollars Into the coffers of the city, the county and state." The governor's reasoning reminds us of the businessman business-man who never turned on enough lights because electricity cost a little money. Customers were depressed by the store's dark appearance. The same businessman refused to expend enough money for window displays, advertising, store Improvements. Im-provements. What happened? He went broke. The businessman's view of economy really proved to be false economy. He thought he was saving money, but It hurt him rather than helped him. We agree with the governor that the state should be run on a business-like basis. But we think that good business busi-ness practice means much more than the saving of pennies. In this day, advertising has proven its worth to business people, civic organizations . . . even the medical profession. - Advertising is also important in state government. To sell the prison site "to the highest bidder" would be an act of false economy, which the people of this state will regret as long as they live just as we regret the razing of the old Salt Lake Theater. The land has much higher value to the citizens as a great park development, as envisioned by many farsighted civic leaders. It will fit into the state's advertising program because of its incalculable value as a tourist attraction. The majority of tourists who pass through Utah go by the prison site. They will stop there for information, for entertainment, for a rest, for something to see. Even if they are on their way to another an-other state, they will want to come back to Utah sometime. They will tell their friends about Utah's attractions, as portrayed por-trayed in the Scenic Wonders Building at the prison site. The tourist dollars will be a flood compared to the tax dollars upon which the governor places such great stress. Other states have proved that tourist dollars greatly Increase the income of the state, they increase the revenue from' gasoline gas-oline taxes, and best of all, it takes a relatively small investment invest-ment to start the tourist dollars rolling in. We feel that a public development of the prison site is that small investment which is necessary to get a big tourist industry started. |