Price of progress
As the late Elmdale banker, Slats Dawson, used to say: "Where taxes are highest is where livin's the best."
Slats was right. We pay for what we get, and those conveniences cost money. There's no free lunch.
When the young couple moved to 425 Locust nearly 50 years ago the corner of Hudson and Elm was not paved, in fact it often was a mud hole. There was a burn barrel in the alley. In fact the unpaved alley was lined with burn barrels on both sides.
City, county and state workers were among the lowest paid in town. When folks couldn't get a job elsewhere they became school teachers. Eventually they hoped to get a better job doing something in the private sector where wages were more rewarding. Folks who couldn't do anything else became teachers or took county or state jobs.
Health insurance was unheard of and retirement benefits were available only to those who worked for large corporations.
City and county vehicles were second hand and often ramshackle. The school district had one bus, and it didn't have hydraulic brakes. It was more than 10 years old. There were no school cars. There was one county car, the engineer's, and he not only was department overseer but also designed roads and bridges.
Ambulance service was operated by the funeral homes, at a loss.
Town kids walked to school while country kids were brought by their parents or boarded in town.
Kids brought their lunch at noon and ate breakfast at home.
The sheriff had one deputy and one radio frequency.
Marion had one full time police officer who supplied his own car, had no uniform, and was summoned by calling the telephone operator on duty who turned on a light bulb hanging over the Third and Main intersection.
There was no landfill, only a dump.
The courthouse had one calculator (a rotary Marchant) shared by two offices. The city clerk was alone in that office, except for a part time helper. The superintendent of schools had one secretary that served the entire district. All used Burroughs full keyboard adding machines, manual typewriters, and carbon paper.
There was no special education, the teacher took care of the entire class of 35 students without a helper.
And readers will recall many other examples of why taxes are so high today. The question is, do you want to return to the good ol' days?
— By Bill Meyer
