wk = a / Comment « Discussion The DallasPost ~ ESTABLISHED 1889 . TELEPHONE DIMALLAS 300 SNR A LIBERAL, INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY MORNING { AT THE DALLAS PosT PLANT . LEHMAN AVENUE, DALLAS, PA. By THE DaLLAs Post, INC. Se8sesesncesntattites esscssseastesssananasarane i ” \ ~ Howarp RisLEY .... HowELL REEs .......... Managing Editor ‘TRUMAN STEWART .... Mechanical Superintendent : The Dallas Post is on sale at the local news stands. Subscription price by mail $2.00 payable in advance. Single copies five cents each. Entered as second-class matter at the Dallas Post Office. } General Manager THE DALLAS POST is a youthful weekly rural-suburban news- Paper, owned, edited and operated by young men interested in the de- velopment of the great rural-suburban region of Luzerne County and in the ‘attainment of the highest ideals of journalism. THE POST is truly “more than a newspaper, it is a community institution.” 8 Congress shall make no law * * abridging the freedom of speech, or of Press.—From the first amendment to the Constitution of the United States, y SaEil lad Subscription, $2.00 Per Year (Payable in Advance), Subscribers who send us changes of address are requested to include both new and old addresses when they submit their notice of change. pe E THE DALLAS POST PROGRAM 2 » ? THE DALLAS POST will lend its support and offers the use of its columns to all projects which will help this community and the great rural suburban territory which it serves to attain the following major improvements: | "1. Construction of more sidewalks for the protection of pedestrians in Kingston township end Dallas. ~2.°A free library located in the Dallas region. s 3. Better and adequate street lighting in Trucksville, Shavertown, Fernbrook and Dallas. : s ‘ J © 4. Sanitary sewage disposal system for DaHas. 5. Closer co-operation between Dallas borough and surrounding townships. a : + 6. Consolidated high schools and better co-operation between those ~ that now exist. ¥ 3 7.: Adequate water supply for fire protection. 8. The formation of a Back Mountain Club made up of business men and ‘home owners interested in the development of a community con- sciousness in Dallas, Trucksville, Shavertown and Fernbrook. 9. A modern concrete highway leading from Dallas and connecting with the. Sullivan Trail at Tunkhannock. A THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK And scftly came the fair young queen + “*Q’er mountain, dale, and dell; And where her golden light was seen An emerald shadow fell. : The good-wife ope’d the window wide, The good man spanned his plough; *Tis tyme to run, ’tis time to ride, For Spring is with us now. LELAND—Spring Li GET OUT YOUR HIP BOOTS Spring is here, according to the calendar, and the rural dweller is again confronted by the eternal (or infernal) problem of how to drive to town d back without the help of a tractor, Old Dobbin and seven hired men. “Get the farmer out of the mud” has been, and still is, a political war- Sure, get him out, but when this is done, keep him out. Every Spring, during the thaws, many of our country roads are seas mud—rutty, slippery, and often completely impassable—for weeks. Then, hen we've just about given up hope and run out of cuss words, the com: bination of drying weather and the annual patch-work crews finally puts the road in passable condition. When this is done, we say (provided we don’t to think of the year before), “That's more like it. The road looks pretty good now.” ! It looks good, yes, but wait. Along comes a heavy rain, then another, and the road is right back where it was before. Now is the time for the farmer to “Get out of the mud” under the federal government program of work relief projects. The Post urges an im- mediate “Better Farm Roads” movement in this country to make sure that WPA and other road projects in this vicinity are the kind we want. Let’s all get together, decide on the projects we want put through, and see that ur proposals are presented to the proper highway and WPA officials. * * - COMMUNITY UNITY IN ACTION Business men everywhere can take inspiration from the splendid spirit ~ being displayed now in Kingston as merchants recover from the severe dam- age the flood left/in the Kingston Corners section. ‘No part-of the valley was harder hit than the business places around Kingston Corners and a survey there as the water receded would have led anyone to believe that many of the business men would be unable to con- inue in business. a Now, however, thanks to the unique interest of prominent citizens of the borough, it is assured that no business man need close down because of flood damages. Thousands of dollars have been loaned to a committee which will, in turn, lend the money, without interest, for restocking stores and starting ioe business anew. As a result, the business men of Kingston have been welded into a unit which undoubtedly will place them in a position far more satisfactory than existed before the flood. : Aside from the all-important question of finances, the movement gives ~ to the effected merchants a concrete evidence of community support which ~ will be reflected in a new effort to please their loyal patrons. The current ~ zehabilitation program is something new in community spirit. It deserves ~ the attention and the commendation of every small town. #2 ® * » A MILD REAL ESTATE BOOM Although this section has no desire to capitalize upon the misfortunes of Wyoming Valley, it is not amiss to call attention to the current interest in the renting and selling of homes outside of the flood area. The late un- pleasantness in the valley—even though it is not likely to repeat itself for many years—has resulted in a mild real estate boom here. : : Safety from any possible overflow of the Susquehanna is one of the as- ets of this region, but it is only one. The other advantages are especially ap- ~ parent now as Spring spreads its sunny mantle over the hillsides. It is a good geason to move to-the Back Mountain region. i It is too bad that we cannot offer the newcomers a good sewage system, adequate water for fire-fighting purposes, a few libraries and more sidewalks and street lights. Maybe with the help of the new residents, we can accom- plish some of these long needed projects. AA es di ditorials - Letters To The Editor . WASHINGTON LETTER The Treasury and Federal Social : Security Board are busy preparing regulations under which some 26,- 000,000 employees in the country will begin paying taxes next January Ist in compliance with the Social Se- curity Act. i There is a difference of opinion be- tween those who are practical and those who are politically-minded. The practical say the regulations should be issued and the huge staff neces _ sary to register the 26,000,000 should start functioning this summen at the latest. The politicians insist that the work be put off until after Novem- ber because they are fearful of the effect it might have on voters to re- mind them of these new income tax ‘ burdens. ‘Be that as it may, the magazine Iron Age has just completed an inter- esting computation. It found that a worker of 25, earning $1,800 a year, can, under the Federal Act, draw $15 a week unemployment insurance for 10 weeks, and at the age of 65 he will be entitled to a $61.25 pet month pension for the rest of his life, or until $2,520 has been refunded to has estate. But if the worker paid the same premiums to any first class insurance company, he could, after 5 years, get unemployment insurance of $15 a week for 37 weeks, and after 20 years he could get $15 a week for 232 weeks. At the age of 65 he would also be eligible for a pension of $83 a month for the balance of his life, or until $12,058 had been re- paid to him or to his estate. “When Uncle Sam competes with private initiative, he offers his cus- tomers no bargain,” Iron Age pertin~ - ently remarks. — THE WEALTH IS SHARED In these days of talk about sharing the wealth, the following quotation from an Associated Press story from Washington should be interesting: “One Congressional tax authority figured out a theoretical case to show that under present income and estate tax rates the accumulation of huge fortunes is no longer possible, and even those already in existence even, tually will be broken up. “He took as an example a man with a $100,000,000 fortune. When that man dies, he said, his tax will be $67,362,600, leaving an estate of $32,637,400 to be passed on. “If it all goes to a single son, who earns an average of 10 per cent a year, his annual income will be $3,- 263.740. Out of that he will have to pay an income tax of $2,434,711. This will leave him $829,029 a year. “Assuming that he lives on $50,000 a year, which the tax authority held would be unlikely, he would add $15,000,000 to his fortune in 25 years. He would then die with $48,- 000,000. The tax would be $31,000,- 000 and the one-time fortune of $100,000,000 would be down to $17,- 000,000.” 3 i —— SHARE THE WEALTH Bill asked Jake if he was in favof of the divide-the-wealth plan. Sure, said Jake. If you had a thousand dollars in the bank would you give me half, asked Bill? Certainly. If you had a dozen cows would you be will- ing to give me six? Sure. If you had forty acres of land would you give me twenty? Of course. And if you had two pigs would you divide? No, you dern fool; I have two pigs. ~~ WHAT ARE THEY WORTH? Occasionally one hears talk about the “tremendous” salaries paid to exe- cutives of private businesses. In the first place, it should be remembered that after they pay federal, state, city, county, and other taxes, their net is far, far below what it seems. Secondly, their salaries should be considered in relation to the job they do—in other words, in relation to the income they succeed in getting for the businesses they run. Taxes, as an illustration, would leave a resident of New York only $87,250 out of a $200,000 salary, only $56,000 out of a $75,000 salary. And figures show that executives re- ceived only 2.3 per cent of the re- ceipts of corporations in 1933. Their percentage was higher in that year, one of the leanest, than in better times. But wouldn't it seem that a man who made $1,000 for his stockholders was entitled to $23? If he doesn’t produce, the stockholders can kick him out. If he does, his stockholders decide what he is worth. Which certainly isn’t true in politics. The politicians get a fixed salary re- gardless of whether they do good, bad, or indifferent jobs. POOR LITTLE FELLOW 3a THE onwnp . 7 = ———————————8——SST HIM D\ZzZvy WITH ONE OR KNoct< HIM CoLO wit ‘ SHALL | KNOCK “ Kaleidoscope A well-dressed gentleman startled the haughty operator of a local hair dressing shop recently by entering and firmly demanding to speak with the proprietor. There was a flutter, for not many males invade the imma- culate precincts. But when the proprietor appeared, the gentleman held out his hand with the utmost respect. “My dear sir,” he said, “I just wanted to have the honor of shaking the hand of the person who could get my wife out of bed in time to keep an eight-thirty appointment. —0— - One of the leading men-about- town in Dallas excitedly called our office the other day and announced that he had just made the astonish- ing discovery that the average man has no less than twenty-one pockets in his clothes! Since our information has a repuattion for wearing clothes, we hasten to give this information to the world. ene On a balmy day recently the gar- dener in the Gardens of the Nations at Rockefeller Centér decided it was time to open the bee hive. They expected to find ten thou- sand bees drowsily rousing from their winter's sleep. What did they find! One fat mouse, devouring the last of the dead bees. A bee authority, hastily summoned, ‘decided the bees had died partly from the cold, and partly from overwork in battling the high winds around the skyscraper last summer. They had gathered twenty-five pounds of honey from the profusion of flowers in the Gardens of the: Nations and from nearby Central Park. The mouse had not got around to the honey when: discovered. : The new hive of bees, which will be installed this Spring, will be scien- tifically acclimated to its surround- ings to-insure that it will live through the winter. Sy LINCOLN’S BEARD An eleven year old girl promoted Mr. Lincoln's beard in the midst of the 1860 presidential campaign and proof of her success along this ul tra-modern line of endeavor may be seem by any visitor to Washington, D. C. The little girl was Grace Bé- dell, whose home was Westfield, Chautaugua County, New York. The episode was brought to the attention of the writers who are preparing ar- ticles on the Capitol for the American Guide, the Government's forthcoming travel handbook. In 1860 Mr. Lincoln was: clean- shaven and more than a trifle gaunt. None of his masculine supporters guessed that his rather emaciated ap- pearance would have any effect on the voters—all male in those days— but the ladies had a better under- standing of popular psychology. Probably after having heard a good deal of talk on the subject at the sew- ing circles and elsewhere in her vil- lage, Miss Bedell wrote Mr. Lincoln on October 15, 1860, the following letter: “Dear Sir: My father has just come home from the fair and brought home your picture and Mr. Hamlin’s. I am a little girl only eleven years old, but want you should be Presi- dent of the United States very much so I hope you won’t think me very bold to write to such a great man as you are. Have you any little girls about as large as I am? If so give them my love and tell her to write to me if you cannot answer this let- ter. I have got four brothers and part of them will vote for you anyway and if you will let your whiskers grow I will ‘try and get the rest of them to vote for you. You would look a great deal better for your face is so thin. All the ladies like whiskers and they would tease their husbands to vote for you and then you would be Presi- dent. My father is going to vote for you and if I was a man I would vote for you to but I will try and get ev- erybody to vote for you that I can. I think that rail fence around your pic’ ture makes it look very pretty. I have got a little baby sister she is nine weeks old and is just as cunning as can be. When you answer, address your letter direct to Grace Bedell, Westfield, Chautaugua County, New York. “I must not write anymore. Ans- wer this letter right off. Goodby, Grace Bedell.” Mr. Lincoln saw the point and started in immediately to raise a crop of whiskers, though he felt rather as- hamed of himself for doing it; as is indicated in the reply which he sent his youthful girl adviser on October 19: “My dear little Miss: Your very agreeable letter of the 15th is re- ceived. “I regret the necessity of saying I have no daughters, I have three sons —one seventeen, one nine, and one seven years of age. They, with their mother, constitute my whole family. “As to the whiskers, having never worn any, do you not think people would call it a piece of silly affec- tation if I were to begin it now? Your very sincere well wisher, A. Lincoln.” These letters are now on display in a little cabinet at the Lincoln Museum. THE MAIL In this department The Post presents letters from its read- ers on current problems-—suggestions, criticisms, bouquets. The Post need not indorse.any sentiment or eriticism expressed here, nor can it vouch for the accuracy of any semtiment. It recognizes only that in this country people heve, within reason, the right to express themselves. BAG It seems to me that the average motorist, because he pays a certain sum for a license, assumes that he has a pre-emptive right to the roadway and to behave as he sees fit. When you come to remember that the larg- er part of the present generation of drivers has grown up under prevail ing conditions, perhaps it is not to be wondered at. Would it not be a good idea for the authorities to tell the motorist in suitable language printed in the license that he is al- lowed to use the road on sufferance? A.D. Editor: The newspaper report that Profes- sor Tugwell has been lent to the United States by Columbia Univer- sity for another year came as a shock to me. I had been under the impres- sion that the United States had been lent to Columbia University for ex- periments by Professor Tugwell. BJF. Editor: Much has been said for and against the new flood control, river correc: tion, irrigation and- hydroelectric un- dertakings of the present administra- tion. But there is one important point in connection with these undertak- ings, involving vast expenditures, which does not seem to be generally understood. I refer to the fact that flood con- trol, irrigation and hydroelectric po- wer generation are fundamentally contradictory in their requirements. Each calls for the building of a dam or dams, the creation of an artificial lake or lakes, and it seems to be gen- erally assumed that all three ends be properly served from such devel opments. This is incorrect. ~ If there were anything resembling uniformity in the flow-off of rain and melting snow, these desired ends might be combined in single projects. But sometimes great floods come shortly after the recession of other floods or heavy run-offs. Often there are two or three flood periods in the same Spring and early Summer. The use of artificial lakes for flood control therefore requires that after a flood, or when the lake is filled or nearly filled, the water be drained off as rapidly as possible, so that capa- city may remain for absorbing the crest of possible new floods. But whether these floods will come, how great they will be, and how many of them there will be no man knows, and no data can give this information in advance with even slightly approxi mate accuracy. Irrigation, on ‘the other hand, requires that all the water possible be conserved, so that it may be available, not only for the remain- der of the year in which it is gathered but as a fly-wheel, so to speak, for a very possible two or three year period of drought. Hydroelectric requirements, how- ever, call for a fairly uniform use of the water during the year and there- fore for its conservation even during the comparatively short period in which the whole demand for irriga- tion occurs. If an administration, spending vast sums on projects which have been condemned by practically every com- petent and disinterested government and civilian engineer who has passed on them in ‘advance of the develop- ment, wishes to. secure the approval of the courts, the flood-control and river-correction features are emphas sized. If they wish to win the support of the people in the territories affect. _ ted by the development, they empha- size the irrigation or hyroelectric benefits, or both. But they never point out that these different uses cannot be harmonized, and, strangely enough, those opposing the uneconomic devel- opments of this sort also seem to have failed to emphasize this fact. S.L G "Na J