OCR Text |
Show Small Towns, Huh? RURAL VOTERS WIELD THE BIG POWER Washington The importance impor-tance of non-urban areas in the nation's political picture was stressed this week by Sen. Wallace F. Bennett (R. Utah). A study brought to the lawmaker's law-maker's attention by Prentice-Hall, Prentice-Hall, one of the nation's leading lead-ing publishers, shows towns of less than 10,000 population in rural and farm areas elect 75 per cent of the United States Senate, 61 per cent of the House and 60 per cent of all state legislatures. Said the study: "It should prove reassuring to know that the nation's welfare is in the hands of voters who are known to be independent thinkers, stoutly American in their ideals, who take an active interest in-terest in what is going on and who do not hesitate to express ex-press themselves." Sen. Bennett noted this trend also leads to important political polit-ical stability in that lawmakers law-makers so elected tend to acquire ac-quire sufficient seniority to gain committee chairmanships the backbone of good legislative legis-lative work. The Utahn also noted that the Federal payroll has been I reduced by some 50,0000 during dur-ing the first four months of the new administration, saving sav-ing the taxpayers about $150,-000.00. $150,-000.00. "Business seems to have been able to absorb any government workers released so far by this economy move," Sen. Bennettt said. "Apparently the gloom mongers were wrong again in thinking it impossible to cut down on the bureaucracies without reducing government efficiency and increasing em-1 em-1 ployment." |