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GN SPEECE
Suppose a man u n, -- might and said: "My friends I
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think farmers ought to be doing sbetter Job than they are. I've
a never been a farmer-4'71 on a farm-J never even studied
' farming; but it youll ild'ao your farmer, I'll raise more
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crops per acre, and do it 1; less money."
ywzxwvsnrhisa least-laimricult and complicated sale farming.
' garion County people do well to select those who govern us with
at leastgs much care as wold select a farmera
' ;, There are only two thinsaJ want to talk to yOu about tonight.
aha or them .13 state taxation. The otht is state swnding.
Our Federal Government is demands on uythat are greater
than most of us exier of before.-, Let. me tell .youuuhat you
4 -pmady know-that in the maiatemture those" was .1111 be
doubled, and doubled again. Youriproblem, enemy p'roblem is to see to
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{it that those demands are satisfied.
V Yet there is a limit beyond which we, as a peOple,-csnnot go.
{here is a limit to the tuftion which We can stand, there is a limit
-to'the regulation we can stand. We are reaching-have reached in many
eaaesna point at which, as our Federal Goverrdnant'sska on t
ve and
do more, our state government mt ask us to give and'do
That day sound to you a good deal lce a promise to re taxes,
4 but it isn't!" It's a principle of cooperation with the Federal
Govermlent in 1.1:) hour of hectic-the priniple of fitting 'the state
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system of taxation, and even of regulation into the grand scheme of
.f national econom. It's the principle upon which, 11' you see fit to
' elect me, I shall work. r
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let me illustratg whatt toan. At the present time we are
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Qireceiving a substantial inoce from the gasoline tax whioh, as you
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_ lenow, is T¢ per gallon. In spite of the fact that gasoline sales are
.Afataadily drooping. that tax will always produce a lot of money -- money
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Fthat Florida badly needs. But aupoae the Federal Government which has
never taxed gasolinemvery much, decides to impose an additional 3¢
tax per gallon. I scene to me that the state would have to reduce its
tax to make room for the national government. -
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That very briefly, outlines my view, at the gmesent time, upon
taxation. it Would be a simplerthing to stand here and promise you that
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7' the automobila'tax imposeooby the last legislature would be eliminatedv
thatyour gasftaxea would he lowered-that youiaicena taxes would be
lowered~-that the 100 per cent assessment or real property required by
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the last legislature would be oliminated-that the peooOnal property
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q .tax returns required by the last legislature would no longer be required.
And it 16 my purpose to work for some or those things. But if you'll
atop and think a minute you'll realize that no leglplatura votes for
"taxea because he anto to-~he votes fo them because he has already voted
, 7to opend money, and he's got to provide lt from somewhere.
That brings me to the second thing I want to talk about -
spending .
ate
;Florida on an auditor. My Job was to see to it that the Booounte of the
Comptroller wemalways in balance with thoae or the State Treasurer.
Every month, through my hands, there tossed every'eheox paid by the
State of Florida, except school teachera'. checks. You can see how,
after a few months, I knew frOm memory the salary of almost every
L employee of the State. I could tell, at a moment's notice how much
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l was spent for travelling expenses, new cars, printing, office equipment,
legal advice, and who got the money. There was no secret or State
Finance recorded on books thahwas'not laid bare before my eyes.
This experience convinced'me that there are only two practical
ya in ghich government expenses can be reduced: by the elimination
g1 unnecessary departments of the goVernment; by the reduction or the
amend or the departments left in existence. I.
Let me illustrate how I feel many departments can be eliminated.
E I believe, for instance, that upon the shoulders of the road patrol can
~be.placed the duties of the gasoline inspectors, gasoline pump inspectors,
and possibly even the tag inspectors. 'At pnesent one group patrols the
roadh; another group covers the same territorytesting gasoline pumps;
another group goes to the same.pumps and secures a sample of gasoline
analysis. Stgll a fourth group travels the sine roads for the
e or preventing the misuse of Florida and foreign state tags; I
' believe that the road patrol could perform all those duties at a
"substantial saving to the taxpayers. I .
The other method or tax reduction which I mentioned was the
"etion or the overhead or state departments. 'This can be accomplished
-by the simple expedient or reducing the salaries of state at
'hc pay.tcsle that prevails in private industry, and by
number or. enzymes to the minimum required for. the work to
as to
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the
done. I
can see no reason why a stenographer should receive$150 a month from
the state for work that commands no more than $100 in private business.
Nor is there any reason why state employees cannot be reduced to a point
.where they render an'honest day's work for an honest days pay.
You will hear many tales and promises of voting against taxes, but
*yOu know that the only nay to reduce taxes is to reduce expenses. The
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Nnext time the legislature meets, notice this: the first thing they do
is decide what it is necessary and desirable to spend, and then they
pass bills appropriating money for those purposes. Then when they see
"k what the total is they vote for taxes to raise that total. If your
:k legislature is going to reduce taxes, it must reduce expenses. And it
t is reasonable to suppose, folks, that in order to reduce your expenses
.your legislator must know what they are. It is not enough that he
; knows that $10,000 use voted for this, and $99,000 for that. He must
5L>be shit to see for himself, on the books'of the state, uhat the expenses
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" are, and why they gore necessaryl- -
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,hose who oppose mesnake much or my youth: It is true, I have
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lived by 28 years; but those years have been crowded with experience.
i You know or my work in the state government. 1 am a' lawyer. In addition
I assist my father in his accounting business when he needs me. I am
the loan administrator for an institution which-lends money for the
purchase and construction of homes: -At times, through FHA and other
credit agencies, I build houses for sale.h I am young, but not without
business experience. "
That's about all I have to say. I want your votes. I want to he
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your representative. But there is a price too great for me ay.
J, I won't buy this office at the cost of self-respect-
Dont ask me to promise you what {win beuiee in 19%. you
want your candidate to look into the future 'finto. the next year or
' the next south and tell youmat will happen u. then 1'11 have to lose
your votes. But if you send me to Tallahassee, trust me to work for
you, pin your hope and your faith on me, I'll appreciate your vote.
. You folks know me. I was born among you. I want to school with
g some of you, with the sohildren or others or you. I've brought my
' wire here, and we're making our home among you.
L__s
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