Corvallis Gazette-Times from Corvallis, Oregon • 4

CorvaUis Gazette-Times A. ROBERT SMITH Gazfl-TlmM Washington lurtau Gravel once Jackson protege ROBERT C. INGALLS, Editor and Publisher i ALLEN PETERS Business Manager WANDA McALISTER Editorial Page Editor ROSS CARLETTAJR. News Editor. MICHAEL BRADLEY Managing Editor forecasts about Wayne Morse, but he lasted 24 years in the Senate and is running again this year against Sen.

Mark Hatfield, after getting the Democratic nomination. The Gazette-Times is dedicated to serve the best interests of all the people in Benton County. In the news columns ve report the news as honestly and impartially as we can; in the editorial we attempt to interpret the news and express our opinion thereon. "There never in the world were two opinions alike; no more than two hairs or two grains; the most universal quality is Montaigne. 4 Gazette-Times, Corvalli, Oregon, Monday, Tuly 18, 1972 Full city services or cut? It didn't take.

Gravel decided to go the other way, to follow in the footsteps of his predecessor, if not to outdo Gruening as a dove and critic of the administration's conduct in the war in The most sensational example of Gravel's position, was his attempt to read into the Congressional Record the WASHINGTON Four years ago Sen. Henry M. Jackson, and his political associates thought they saw an opportunity to knock off one of the Senate's most outspoken doves and replace him with a young man who would be more faithful to the hawkish view that Jackson champions; With the help of funds raised in. the Seattle area by Jackson and his chief political side-kick, John delegate strength.1- The irony of all this is that both Jackson and Gravel are heading for Miami Beach, each with ambitions to be on the Democratic ticket; but not with one. another.

Allies of the last presidential campaign have become symbols of the great divide within the Democratic party in 1972. Gravel, like Peabody, is banking on the convention insisting that the race for veep be thrown open to the delegates to decide rather than be determined in a hotel room by the presidential nominee and his closest advisers. That's a long shot to rely on. Only once in modern times has that happened in 1956 when Adlai i Stevenson allowed the Democratic convention to choose Sen. Estes Kef auver of Tennessee over Sen.

John Kennedy of Massachusetts. Whatever the selection process, Jackson and Gravel share one distinction: neither of them appears to have a prayer. Gravel, rather than retreating to mend his Alaskan fences, is charging form in an effort to capitalize on his national notoriety. He is running for. the Democratic vice presidential nomination.

He is not the only Democrat who is actively, admittedly seeking Second place the ticket. Endicott Peabody, former governor of Massachusetts, is deluging press -with promotional statements about his bid for delegates in journeys to 40 states. Peabody claims to have some 200 delegates committed to him. i Gravel has been traveling alh over the country too, but more on the states with large delegations, notably California. He is prudently not making any formal claims of previously secret Pentagon Papers, which' several newspapers starting with the New York Times had begun to publish over the objections of the ad- ministration.

The Supreme Court the other day ruled that Gravel must answer to a grand jury investigation of his sources. Indeed, he could be prosecuted for making the commentaries public as a five- volume set of paperbound books published by Beacon Press. There are many Alaskans who claim Gravel has killed his own chances of ever being re-elected by his bizarre behavior. Many observers made the same water and sewer systems, most park and recreation programs, minimum street maintenance arid cleaning, the largely self-supporting building department, a prudent level of administration. The programs outside the swimming pool, present level of library services, park acquisition, among others depend upon passage of- the increased' budget.

Is $91.20 too much for the owner of a $15,000 home to spend for the city services he will receive next year? Or do He want to buy only $67.80 worth his estimated tax if the full budget is defeated? waiter, whose public relations- clients include jBheBoeing Mike Gravel toppled Sen. Ernest Gruening, D-Alaska, who with Waynfe Morse, had voted against the original Tonkin Gulf resolution, It wasn't long before Jackson discovered he had been wrong in assuming Gravel would follow his lead on military-foreign policy matters. When President Nixon asked Congress to authorize the ahtiballistic missile project, Jackson conducted a strong lobbying effort on behalf of the ABM and Nixon, including taking his protege from Alaska down to the White House for a private chat with the President. ART BUCHWALD Los Angeles Times Syndicate Scenario for Demo convention In a sense, Corvallis voters will decide between two budget proposals tomorrow. One will fund a reasonable level of ser-.

vices for residents the other will be a' cut-rate, reduced quality package. The first requires an additional $389,481 from local taxpayers. It will result in an increase of 8 cents per day for the owner of a $20,000 home. All told, his municipal tax bill will come to $121.90 for the year; that's about 34 cents per day for the full budget. For the owner of a $10,000 home, cut the figures in half.

These maximums are without con- sideration of the new property tax refund from the state of up to $400 for senior citizens and all resident homeowners whose income in relation; to property taxes paid is low. Taxes in Corvallis may be high. But they are what they are because the people have voted to fund excellent education in the public schools. Taxes to operate city services are low. Even with the increase, they would remain substantially under those in Oregon's comparable cities.

Only 13 cents out of every tax dollar went to the city last year while 83.5 cents went to schools. That level of city spending cannot continue without erosion of municipal services. Too cheap, too long is a veteran councilman's evaluation, concurred in by other council members and budget review committeemen. This year when the budgetmakers got down to balancing anticipated revenue against proposed expenditures they discovered it couldn't be done without serious cutbacks in programs. After a dozen meetings, including three special attempts to obtain citizen viewpoints, they decided they couldn't (and perhaps shouldn't) decide where the axe should fall.

So, it's up to the voters. The available resources, constrained by earmarks which restrict spending to specific areas, have been spread over what budget-makers agreed were essential services. This includes fire and police protection, It is not a matter to consider lightly. Nor purely on a personal dollar basis. What about the responsibility of neighbor for neighbor? For the children growing up here; for the elderly and low-income who make their homes in this community.

The hard-headed, conscientious local taxpayers who make up the' city budgetr committee are convinced the full proposed budget represents the minimum amount the city requires to provide responsive, responsible services. We agree. Ajid we urge all citizens to get out and vote. Don't let a handful of your neighbors make this important decision for you. Harry Reasoner on ABC were also hot speaking to each other, and on Walter Cronkite wasn't talking to himself.

It was obvious to everyone in and out of the convention hall that a compromise candidate had to be found one who had not already been nominated. But who? The Democratic Party leaders call arecess behind the podium. They argue and thrash it out for several hours. The only man whose name is proposed as the compromise candidate is a very famous, but controversial, figure on the American scene. He has nounced many times that he is not a candidate for the Presidency or the, Vice Presidency, and has said under no conditions would he accept a draft.

Yet, the leaders argue he is the one person who can save the party. Short putts People might have more confidence in television reporting if CBS would stop-huckstering about how it is going to make the Democratic national convention interesting. University of Oregon and Eugene people have really extended themselves and produced an outstanding event in the pre Olympic Trials. The climax ofj the event was, of course, two Duck victories on the last day. It is likely that there are more track buffs in Eugene per capita than any other place in the world.

Readertorials WASHINGTON Everyone has his own scenario for this week's Democratic National Convention. The way things have been going with the party, one scenario has as much validity as the next. This is the one that I have written and if it comes true, remember, you read it here. It is the fourth day of the convention and the Democrats have been unable to decide on a presidential candidate. The fight to seat delegations has taken up three days and those people who were ruled ineligible have refused to give up their seats to those who were officially designated as delegates to the convention Almost every state delegation has two people sitting in every chair.

No one dares leave the floor for fear that someone will grab his seat. When someone tries to speak he is hooted down by the opposition faction. Larry O'Brien, the chairman of the party, has the podium ringed with the National Guard so no one can grab the microphone. The nomination speeches have not been but the candidates have been nominated McGovern, Humphrey, Wallace, Chisholm, Jackson and Muskie. one is accomplishing; who it is that one is hurting.

Prof. Friedman has over and over again demonstrated that efforts by the government to give the little man a break by this or the other welfare subsidy end by hurting him. A true break with economic interventionism would see McGovern coming out against rinky-dink tax laws, against all deductions "(except obviously justified deductions), in favor of the elimination of the progressive feature of the income tax, and in favor of a maximum tax rate of 20 per cent. WILLIAM F. BUCKLEY )R.

King Features Syndicate Tax plan for McGovern There, have been no demonstrations for the candidates in the hall because everyone is afraid if he gets up and marches they won't let him back in his section again. On the first ballot. McGovern picked up 1,234 votes, well shy of the 1,509 he needed. The rest were split between the other candidates with the uncommitted refusing to vote for anyone. The second and third ballot found no budging.

By the tenth ballot of Wednesday's all-night session, the convention was. hopelessly deadlocked. The state delegations caucused right on the floor, trying to get people to change their minds. But it was impossible. On NBC, John Chancellor and David Brinkley became short-tempered and refused to talk to each other.

Howard K. Smith and Letters to the editor must include the handwritten signatures of the writer end his full address. Maximum length is 3S0 words. Letters cannot be accepted from the same writer more frequently than twice during a calendar month. For library To the Editor: In the 24 years since I first began working at the Corvallis Public Library I have seen many changes culminating in a beautiful building and a fine book collection of which Benton County residents are justly proud.

The original building, designed by Pietro Belluschi, who recently retired as head of the School of Architecture at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is a lovely building and the people of Corvallis showed their appreciation of it when they voted to adda wing of the same style and materials, thus preserving and enhancing the old building. library board and the library director, Mr. Salmon, face the problem of how to acquire the funds necessary to continue the fine standards of service Corvallis has known for so many years. I have spent considerable years in library work, here and in other cities, so I am able to compare and to appreciate how excellent our library is and how much it means to all those it serves. I sincerely hope you will vote yes in the July 11' election so that the hours open, the book collection and the upkeep of the building will not need to be curtailed and one of Corvallis' greatest assets be downgraded.

On July 11 a YES vote. 'Jeanne Larson Retired Librarian 227 SW Eighth St. Omissions To the Editor: I didnt think you did a very good job of answering my Readertorial, Something's Wrong, June 22, in trying to defend the City of Corvallis water rates. una yuuiig man, wuuse ucuue had been associated with a very embarrassing incident, is a household word now. Because of the deadlock at the convention, he is the only one who can possibly beat Nixon in November.

The compromise candidate is nnf if t-lM nnni)Antinn tin knn rput ...1 Mb wiw viiUVilt lib HUiJ purposely stayed away so people would believe he was not interested in the nomination. O'Brien puts in a call to Everyone, in turn, gets on the i (juuiie aim iciis nun ne nab iu ue the candidate. The compromise candidate speaks to George TT 1 1 iwuuuverii, nuiupiirey, musiue and Wallace. They uree him to run. The candidate finally agrees to a draft and says he will take the next plane to Miami.

And that's how Bobby Fischer, the U.S. chess champion, became the Democratic presidential nominee for 1972. municipal-owned utility. This was the prime reason for my initial Readertorial. There is an old Chinese proverb, "Those who monkey with the buzz saw often get cut." T.J.

Starker 634 SW 54th St. Editor's note: Wasn't trying to defend the city, T.J., nor answer your Readertorial questions. Just attempting to get the comparisons at least closer to apples and apples instead of fruit basket upset. Ironic To the Editor: The community is now investing in the relocation of Good Samaritan Hospital in the expectation of making it an outstanding regional facility. The medical skills in our local area are exceptional for a non-metropolitan locality and largely justify those expectations.

Still, it is ironic that there is a well-documented local need for one medical service which will probably not be alleviated by the new facility. According to a Gazette-Times article (June 24), fiver 80 per cent of Benton County women who sought abortions in 1971 had to go out of the county. The reason was partially the higher local costs, but principally because most, of the local anesthesiologists and physicians either conscientiously refused to participate in terminating pregnancies or yielded to peer pressure. Good Samaritan has no policy restricting the application of the Oregon abortion law. Hopefully, the continued influx of physicians, or natural' turnover, wUl break the present moralistic monopoly on servicesTThe present stiuation of at least three local women per week going outside the county for abortions shows medically-rich Corvallis to be sadly lacking in this area.

Steve Holland 1028 NW 32nd SL affect the allocation of resources. The Mellon Bank's economic newsletter sums it up: "For example, it (the tax law) is used to encourage home ownership, to lower the cost of borrowing to state and local governments, to increase the value of retirement" and unemployment benefits, to lower the cost of medical care, and to entourage private philanthropy. Reasonable men can disagree on whether or not the individual income tax law is the proper vehicle through which such objectives should be accomplsihed. But it is clear that proposals to abolish the existing set of tax preferences, unless accompanied by other positive measures, imply a repudiation of the 'objectives which originally led to the establishment of the preferences." It is quite literally that simple: You didn't mention "all the water you want to use" for $3 in North Albany from a taxpaying privately owned water company. You didn't mention' the fact that if an Albany resident uses less than his minimum he pays 50 cents less per montfi than the Corvallis resident.

You didn't mention that we Corvallis suburbanites have to pay $8.20 per month for a minimum while the Albany suburbanites pays $2.35 or $3 depending on his source of water. You didn't mention that we Corvallis suburbanites have a sewer tax tacked on our water bill regardless of the fact that most df Ms pay the subdivider for this service. That on most of our properties we have paid this sewer tax for many years and-may have to pay it forever before we get the city sewer. Can you in fair-mindedness defend such a position? Monopoly is a wonderful thing. And you didn't mention that most of these low rates are from companies that pay taxes and pay dividends.

In the interim I did a little home work on the California Water Service Co. Their vice president says they get their water from several sources. The cheapest source is well water which costs about one-fourth to one-fifth of that water purchased from water wholesalers such as the state, the San Francisco Water Department, or the Colorado Aqueduct. Its flat rate for a residential customer is $6.48 and the average metered customer is $7.66. This company pays taxes and sends me a dividend check once in awhile.

It operates where water is gold. Its stationery carries a legend, "Water is your most precious natural resource. DO NOT WASTE.JT." Could I put in a plug for our forests that produce our good water? Free and a gravity .5. system. You didnt mention or explain why these privately owned tax-paying water companies provide a lower rate than the tax-free and that a study of them reveals that the overwhelming majority either a) paid taxes to foreign countries receiving the usual tax credit; or b) paid state taxes, or c) had deductions sanctioned by law.

Sen. McGovern also did not mention that there are in fact 15,000 American citizens who reported incomes in excess of $200,000 who did pay income taxes, at an effective tax rate of 44 per cent. Nor does Sen. McGovern stress the use of loopholes to people who are not necessarily rich. For instance, the joint return permitted husband and wife, in the absence of which the Government would realize $6 to $10 billion in additional revenue.

The new tax law of 1969, regularly disparaged as a rich man's tax law, deserves to be criticized for any number or reasons, all of them, however, more complicated than Uwse Sen. McGoverii comes up with. That tax law reduced the rate of income taxation by 82 per cent for those earning $3,000 or less; by 43 per cent for those earning by 27 per cent for those earning and so on, with a reduction of per cent for those earning and an increase of 7 per cent for those earning $100,000 and over. But the figures are tiresome, when put beside the principal point, which is that over the years Congress andhe executive have done what they thought best to Little by little the analysis rolls in, to the considerable disadvantage of Sen, George McGovern who, even as he has now embraced the cause of Israel more hawkishly than anyone since General Dayan, will surely, sometime before Election Day, deliver a paean on the tax loophole. A fortnight ago Mr, Stewart Alsop reported that a big McGovern backer from California, who had made a fortune in computers, consulted his computers, feeding them one of Sen.

McGovern's formulas for bringing wealth to the needy, and discovered that $42 billion was missing. I.e., that just one of the redistributionist schemes proposed by Sen. McGovern was underfinanced by a mere $42 billion. The backer was not the man best suited to question the reliability of computers so it is not known whether he will finally back off from his computers or "from W3TandiaateT Now the Economics Division of the Mellon Bank in Pittsburgh, in its newsletter, makes a few gentle comments about the loopholes Sen. McGovern is forever talking about.

Do you remember the one about all the people who reported gross incomes in excess of $200,000 in 1970 who paid zero taxes? High indignation set in every time Sen. McGovern mentioned the matter. What he did not mention is that there was exactly 106 such cases, -pRoMtsg- LMfs Should Congress, or should it not, encourage married couples, home owners, the sick, the economically venturesome? Candidate McGovern will in due course need to face up to the consequences of his rhetoric. When he does so, 1 for one, wish that he might say something truly radical. Namely that it is not the proper business of government to attempt to manipulate human economic behavior by a tissue of built-in biases in the tax law.

The trouble with the idea of making justice via tax laws is that one never really knows what it is that.