The Charlotte News

Sunday, March 12, 1939

SIX EDITORIALS

Site Ed. Note: Ah, Spartans; the Chestnut Hillians once again triumphed. Never mind that, though, only transiently, for at the end of that eight-run comes the new day, perhaps like yesteryear's feat, where the five-straight runs the table; Halley comes, Halley goes, but always tomorrow, today usually shows. Remember the debil in blue prints, and the pennons in blue heaven; where Tom paints the fence, Trenton's midnight bends win at seavens.

A couple or three good ideas in theory, these--theories still sometimes expounded, especially during political campaigns, but not always bearing much fruit after election day--turning law enforcement attention to cleaning up government corruption in local government, balancing the budget, and collecting enough unpaid taxes to run government without tax hikes. And not just in New York, Chicago, Kansas City, Tennile, Ga., or Raleigh.

Ah well, perhaps in another 67 years...

Speaking of Sing Sing, when does Raleigh, like the others, obtain a musical note? Ah, right. Already been done. What stupid gets we are.

Can anyone accept the resignation of Jimmy Hines, convicted of selling political protection to the Dutch Schultz gang, as district leader--a post he has held for 25 years. When his resignation was read to the 750 members of the district committee in the cap Monongahela Club, shouts of "no! no!" rang through the hall. The boys unanimously adopted a resolution tabling for good and all the question of his resignation.

Well, maybe it was loyalty. A kind of loyalty is one of the few virtues Tammany may be said to have. But maybe it was just plain embarrassment. After all, a good many of the boys, at least, must feel, "There but for the grace of God go I." The urbane Jimmy was only following the old standard Tammany pattern, which has never really changed from the days of Richard Croker, when he took a little soft money for protecting criminals. It is a truism, indeed, that gangsterism flourishes in towns like New York and Chicago simply because of corruption in government. If the police can ever honestly be set to work to wipe the thing out, it could be done in fairly short order. And so, in Tammany's eyes, it may be that Jimmy's only fault is that he had the bad luck to get caught in what a lot of the rest of them have done and got away with.

Anyhow, Tammany is going to have a district leader who will exercise his powers, unless a higher court comes to his rescue, from Sing Sing--an ironically fitting place from which to run the wigwam, no doubt.

The happy-go-broke fiscal policies espoused by the New Deal evidently have had an insidious effect on the boys in Raleigh. The probable State deficit over the next two years is minuscule, to be sure, in comparison to the deficit rolled up by the New Deal in an average 24 hours, and there is no cause for wailing that the credit and good faith of the Old North State are in jeopardy. Nevertheless, budgets are supposed to be balanced, and in North Carolina it is of peculiar importance that they be balanced.

Under the Executive Budget Act, it is mandatory, when expenditures exceed the general fund, for the Budget Commission to reduce allotments to departments and agencies. Only the schools are exempt from this provision. And when allotments are reduced, the simplest way to absorb the curtailment is to cut salaries, which means that the budget is restored to balance at the expense of State employees.

Hence, it follows that to these more than to any others it is important that the Legislature raise enough money to balance the budget instead of deliberately pretending (strangely enough, under the persuasion of that arch-conservative financier of the old school, Governor Clyde R. Hoey) that the budget is balanced when, barring miracles, it plainly is not. In view of the further ominous probability that State employees are going to have to begin paying Federal income taxes, it looks like rough sailing ahead for the jobholders.

The town of Tennile, Ga. (pop., 1,666), has acquired for itself a brief spot in the day's news by coming forward with a taxless year. The city fathers decided that there were enough perfectly good past-due accounts on the books to run the place for the next twelvemonth, and so no new tax levy was made.

And that, as all the little taxpayers will see at once, is an idea worthy of a larger trial. The City of Charlotte and the County of Mecklenburg both have hundreds of thousands of dollars owing them from taxes unpaid in other years. Both governments will start their next fiscal year with about $600,000 or so each in receivables on their ledgers, the collection of which would pay the City's way for about four and a half months, the County's for a good half year. Not only that; the collection of past-due accounts would undoubtedly stimulate the payment of current accounts, so that instead of figuring to operate on 80 or 85 per cent of new taxes imposed, necessitating a higher tax rate, the percentage of collections would increase and the tax rate come down.

But, la! we've been writing such pieces for years with no noticeable effect on the County's attitude towards tax delinquency and with only spasmodic drives by the City to testify to the power of the press. All the same, they are going to have a taxless year over in the little town of Tennile, Ga. They are going to make their debtors foot the bill.

Site Ed. Note: And the following letter to the editor, also from this date's page, because we cannot on earth quite understand what it is the problem precisely posed by the writer, going to show that at least some Hunters didn't then and probably, judging by recent events, still don't see that it's all in how you play the Game, not on how many Coins depends the Forest to play, even if Jacques de Lieges the pols 'n' collectors sometimes be.

Maybe, rather the writer just wanted open seisin to Cook y'ur wild goose.

Dear Sir:

There have been two fairly insidious and iniquitous bills introduced into the Legislature the past few days, which all hunters and fishermen should protest, long and loud.

H. B. 555 calls for the stealing of $25,000 from the Game Fund and giving it to the Forestry Division. Worse than this was done in 1929 and 1931, when $85,000 was stolen, during these two years, until the 1933 Legislature cut the Forestry Division down to ten per cent of the income from hunting licenses. In addition to the loss of the $25,000 there will be a further loss to the Game Division, as the Federal Government returns to the various states the ten per cent tax on all arms and ammunition. This return is based upon the amount of money which the State has to spend on its game program, so, if this bill becomes a law, the Game Division would have a net loss of approximately $60,000 to $75,000.

H. B. 656 calls for the creation of a Game Commission for Currituck County, similar to the one which they had for years--when Currituck was not a part of the state, as the State hunting license was not recognized in that county. This bill calls for a Game Commission of five men, the chairman to receive a salary of $100 per month, and the other commissioners to receive $50* per month, with an allowance of five cents a mile, for any traveling expenses. In addition to the game protectors now in that county, the bill would require the addition of five more at a salary of $125 per month, with traveling expenses of five cents per mile. The commission could charge whatever it saw fit for the county license, while the State would receive only $15.25 for all non-resident licenses and $2.10 for all state-wide licenses, the remainder to stay in the pockets of the local politicians, to do with as they please.

Every hunter should protest these bills to Hon. Emmett C. Bellamy, chairman of the Senate Committee on Conservation and Development, and do it immediately, as both these bills are on the Senate calendar for either Monday night or Tuesday.

Charlotte.

*[Note: Our information is $100 and $50 a year.--Editors, The News.]