April 3, 1963 (10 pages)

b nk ‘A = Pi aeareerr ~§ ‘Alfred E. Heller, Publisher--R. Dean Thompson, Editor-Manager Second class postage paid at Nevada City, Ca io legal newspaper of genéral circulation by the Nevada C uperior Court, June 3, 1960 Decree N Allert Litho, Nevada City. ubscription rates: One year, $4; Two years, $6; Three years,’ $8. ‘Broad tres, Nevada a 3, 1963.Neva da April . Calif. wad Ast bee Ven oe! wad-As! mabe Te ee! pad-A . SMALL TOWN SMALL WORLD tht TV enes! PAs! Bit Tene! Fad-A,t py ‘eones EDITORIAL Fix The Bridge The value of having two covered bridges’ within easy driving distance of Grass Valley and Nevada City, especially when ‘there are only 12 leftin the entire state, has been overlooked in our county for some time. George C. Pomeroy recently wrote the history of the remaining California covered bridges see Sierra Byways on The historical value of boththe Oregon Creek this page. “and Bridgeport bridges cannot be overemphasized. One is the oldest in California. The other is the longest single span covered bridge in the U. S. As our county grows in its recreational appeal, these two bridges wili play an everincreasing part in attracting tourists and making their stay in our area a pleasant one. Therefore, since the Bridgeport span is in Nevada County, it is of concern to us to see that this attraction gets the care and maintenance that is necessary to preserve it. Pomeroy mentions that the bridge is-not in bad condition. But there are shakes that need replacing, and there are holes in its side that if repaired would help outside elements. to protect it from the And the dirt that is on its floor could and should be removed in order to better protect the bridge. It seems to us that this is a good time: to remind the county road commissioner and county supervisors that the bridge is more than just a way to get across the South Fork of the Yuba River. It is agood time because this is budget time in county government. : While many of our road problems are knotty and expensive, this segment of county responsibility must not be overlooked. Let's get the Bridgeport covered bridge in tip-top shape. It will pay its own way as a monument to the past in addition to its traffic usefulness. Letters To Dear Editor: The date for the Nevada City District School Election draws near. The publicity giving the reasons for the necessity for more funds makes it clear that without _ the additional money our schools will be no credit to our intelligence. Every citizen with children or without children has a responsibility tothe community in which he lives. On one of the great public works in Holland there is the inscription "Built by a people‘who look to their future". Without good schools there is little chance for our future, nor hope for the children of today. Sincerely, Helen Bontecou Nevada City Dear Editor: It is great triumph that Highway 20 is now included inthe State Scenic System, and largely the work of the Nugget. Sincerely, Mrs. Clay M, Landaker Nevada City Dear Editor: You people dont know what you have here," Mrs} B--said as she greeted the members of the club. “As Iw Highway 49, [thought of what we had to doin Arizona, Planta small tree, water it, baby it, pamper it until we could get something like a tree. You have these beautiful trees without lifting a hand to make them grow. " “Yes,” said Mrs, L--, but they're going to tax the trees. " “Tax the trees!" Mrs, B--exclaimedinhorror. “Why, people won't pay that tax. They'll cut down the trees.” “That's just the point,” Mrs.L--answered. “And when we've cut down the trees, what do we have to attract the tourists?" __“Why, that's ridiculous,” Mrs. ‘C--cried. “People don't come t driving along The Edit here to find jobs or start a business. They come here because it's a beautiful place to live. If they take our trees, I wouldn't care to live here." How short-sighted can we get when we despoil and ravage our county of the one asset that distinguishes it from every. other county? When they cut down the timber, the county will have neither the tax money nor the one thing that attracts the investor. Why should the Legislature vote for Scenic Highways along Highway 20 and 49 if the county encourages the tax-payer to cut down the trees. Yours respectfully, Alice Good Farnsworth North San Juan Dear Editor: Five hundred kids in one place is a lot of kids. That's 55 baseball teams with a few coaches. ° And if you try crowding them into. already~full schools, you are in trouble. You have to add 16 teachers and provide space for the’ teacher too. You have to add’ desks and books and pencils and papers. This is why the local schools are in trouble. Since 1958 they have had to make room for 511° new students in Western Nevada County--and no substantial increase inrevenue. It can't be done. Some of them are asking for more money, and they MUST get it. Sincerelyyours, Tyler Micoleau Nevada City Dear Editor: St. John's Indian School and Mission takes this opportunity to thank your many readers for the ‘money, food and clothing sent to. the mission during 1962. A similar drive is under way for. 1963 to help sustain the 400 Indian children and adults at the mission. Yearly individual-and: group sponsorships are also wellif. Adjudicated a County NUGGET = sorpose AGGRE. ue STE COVERED BRIDGES, .California's Covered Bridges was the title of an article by George C. Pomeroy in the October issue of Covered Bridge Topics published by the National Society for the Preservation of Covered Bridges. .Pomeroy points out that a survey of covered bridges in California in 1938 listed 27. Now ther€are 12, only eight of which are opentovehicular traffic.. All of which makes our covered bridge at Bridgeport part of a rather exclusive little family. And this is what Pomeroy has to Say about the Bridgeport bridge in his article: Bactiaieus At an elevation of 567 feet above sea level, and located over the South Fork of the Yuba River, about 15 miles north-west of Grass Valley, Nevada County, is a remarkable old bridge. Located at the former site of a mining community called Bridgeport it springs from: native rubble masonry abutments for 253 feet in a single un-supported span. It has a roadway clearance of 18 by 25 feet. This is the longest single span covered bridge in the United States and probably in the world. It is of the usual Warren truss design common to the California covered bridges of the longer spans, but with the addition of arches in pairs with the truss between. Itwasbuilt in 1862 out of green timbers hauled from a saw mill higher up in the tall timber ZL AK TIRED oF BEING CHASED UP TREES By Every STUPID DOG ( SHOULO MAKE THE FIRST OVERTURE OF (h MI FRIENPLINESS, (; ALTHOUGH HE WAS EY THE uv‘ en Pay THAT T \ (t's wor FAIR . . tHeRe SHoverd BE ZEQuAt RI6GH7S FOR AL*+, (We Shoue ge . , CAT Awe. DOG Ate! FRIEWM2S, 55OR // \ \ THIS HAS TO Re Doux/. BOT LD svvle region. The fact that it has stood all these years without any noticeable sag or warping is a tribute to the skill and integrity of the builders. Originally the road it serves was one of the main routes of trawl from the boat . landing at Marysville to the northern Mother Lode mining districts. The roadit serves has long been abandoned in favor of a. better and more direct route to this area and it now serves local travel. It is posted for a five ton maximum load but the sign is largely disregarded. It is used by! valley cattlemen when driving their herds to and from summer pasture inthe mountain meadows and at times is filled from end to end with their herds. "Sides and roof are covered withthe original split shakes and remarkably few are missing. Repairs seem to be minor for its length of service and consist mainly of replacement of the wearing surface onthe deck. This bridge replaced an earlier one at the site which was washed out, at which time it was raised to its present height. Built originally as a toll bridge it has been county owned and free for many yeats. Thanks tothe efforts of Columbia Parlor No. 70 Native Daughters of the Golden West, it has been designated a State Historical Landmark. " And then Pomeroy continues to Oregon Creek, where the oldest covered bridge in the state is situated: "Built in 1860 it is of Howe truss construction with 14 by 18 inch hand hewn timbers of the truss in excellent condition which look as sound as the day they were erected, Vertical board siding encloses it, but the wooden roof has been replaced by galvanized iron. In its day it carried heavy loads of mining equipment to the hydraulic mine workings of the Pike and Allegheny district. With the outlawing of hydraulic mining many years ago, on account of the damage caused by debris down Stream, this bridge had declined in use until the lumbering activity of recent years demonstrated its importance tothe economy of the region. With the growing practice of trucking logs to larger mills away from the cutting area, it was necessary to add re-inforcement tothe deck. Structural steel was used for this purpose. At an elevation of approximately 2000 feet it isa popular spot for fishermen and hunters. The forest service maintains an improved camp ground on both sides of the stream below the bridge. " With the oldest covered bridge in the state and the longest single span covered bridge in the world just a dozen miles apart, and both within easy reach of GV and NC by auto, weare likely missing a bet by not promoting their existence to a greater extent. By Assemblyman Paul Lunardi School finance will probably be a top problem at sessions of our California Legislature for generations to come, It's certainly a major topic at ourcurrent gathering, one which will require much of our time. Support of our public school system comes primarily from two SOurces, state funds and local funds. The population explosion. of the past 15 years which necessitated enormous expansion in our . school facilities has strained both sources to the breaking point. One of our constant tasks in this area’ has been to match resources as closely as possible toneeds, which is anything but easy. During the interim since our last regular session, considerable interest has been directed-to the increasing difficulty local school districts have been experiencing in securing voter approval of new bond issues. The State Constitution requires a two-thirds vote to secure approval of a school bond issue. A considerable number of issues submitted have failed to receive this proportion of favorcomed. Readers may contact: Brother Bernardino B. Brophy, St. John's Indian School and Mission, Komatke Villa ge, Laveen P.O., Arizona. Thank: you for your interest in this project. Sincerely yours, Harold Wagenheim Los Angeles School Financing A Top State Problem able votes, even though they did get a majority or more of those cast. An Assemb1]y constitutional amendment proposing to lower the percentage of votes required for approval of a school bond issue to 60 percent has been introduced in this session, Recently it was heard by the Assembly Edu* cation Committee, and was sent tothe floor with a favorable recommendation for passage. If it receives the two-thirds approval of the members of both houses, it will appear on the ballot at the next general election for voter consideration. The record shows that in 196061, there were 249 school bond issues submitted tovotersin California, calling for $470 million in bonds. Of these, 73 percent were approved, for $366 million. Twenty -one of the defeated issues got more than 60 percent, but less than 66 2/3 percent of the votes cast. In 1961-62, the percentage of issues approved fell to 57 percent, for $174 out of $470 million, Thirty -seven defeated issues received between 60 percent and the required two-thirds of the vote.cast. One of the most difficult factors in the school cost situation to deal with has been construction of new classrooms to house the ever-growing enrollments in elementary and high schools, and junior colleges. Soon after the end of the War it bécame apparent that many school districts could not finance needed new construction through bonds. The standard statutory: limit of five percent of assessed value on such bonds simply would not produce enough money for the building requirements of some districts. During our past few sessions, much legislative attention has been paidtothis matter of school construction costs and how best to pay for them. Some study has been given to the advisability of increasing the statutory limit on bonds for individual districts from five percent to ten percent of assessed valuation, but no action wastaken, Other ideas have also been reviewed. To aid "impoverished" districts, the Legislature passed, and the voters approved the first of a series of bond issues for construction loans toschooldistricts which had nearly exhausted their own bonding capacity, and still needed funds for new classrooms. So far, a total of $1.335 billion of such bonds have been okehed, but it seems likely future proposals for the same purpose may be submitted to the voters, . RENO LAKE TAHOE LAS VEGAS with qualified, trained, commercial pilots in safe, well maintained aircraft. Cql-Net Airways LOMA RICA. AIRPORT PHONE 273-6151 . . by Alfred Heller tain and oversees the state of California, came off of it the other day long enough to barge*in and declare himself on the state of "You know what is the biggest burden on the backs of all of us?” he asked, "Taxes?" "No. The biggest burden on the backs of all of us is a sack of unanswered questions.” ’ “Like about chemical pesticides in our food?" I said knowingly. Like about everything!" he rejoined. I had no choice but to sit back while he emptied his sack. : “Take our schools," he started off. “Do we believe in education or don 't we? If we do, why can't we dig up the taxes that will support them properly? If the property tax is getting too heavy in one area, why can't it be balanced off by assistance from other areas where the tax base is broader? Or if that won't work, when will we admit that many localities can't support their schools and must have more state and federal aid which is based mainly on the income tax? Is it really true that we can't support our schools locally? Can we sit around and expect our school problem to solve itself? Can we afford to sit around and drink whiskey and chew candies while our children grow up to be as badly educated as we are? "Take transportation. When are we going to admit that the internal combustion ergine doesn't belong in cars? Will we believe the experts who tell us smog will continue to get worse due to auto exhaust, or will we blindly put our faith in exhaust control gadgets? Is anybody at all doing basic research in new sources of power for cars? Will we have to keep cars and highways out of our cities or lose our cities under pavement? Did you know that onethird of the space in our cities is used now for streets and parking lots? Why should we build more streets and parking lots and thereby invite more people to buy cars and drive them in to the cities, creating the need for more streets and more cars? Is any agency ‘inthis country doing research into new kinds of rapid mass transit? Could our scientists help people to sprout wings and fly, or at least come up with some new ideas for transportation? "Take the loss of open space in California. Can we depend on local zoning to prevent it from being overrun by subdivisions? How much dowe care about our good farm land and our best recreation land? Is it enough to create a few state parks and let the rest of the state go by the boards? How much open land do we want in California, and how can we go about seeing that we have it? "Take unemployment, Take the problem of costly and overlapping local governments. Take our water supply. Take all these problems and ask questions, " ‘ At this-juncture, Playfair looked at his watch, stood up, and walked airily out of the room. He looked a new man, noticeably lighter of step than a few minutes ago. As for me, I felt newly weighted down with a sack of unanswered questions. WASHINGTO CALLING By MARQUIS CHILDS WASHINGTON ---With Congress about to take what one cynical member describes as a recess within a recess the prospect for legislation in major fields where the need has long been recognized is bleak indeed. One of those fields is education. A jurisdictional tangle over aid to medical education has put a new obstacle in the way of what seemedto have the most promise--loans or grants, and perhaps both, to colleges and universities. With two powerful committee chairmen contending for their respective tights, those who Oppose any legislation, such as wily Howard Smith presiding over the Rules Committee, have a perfect opening. What is most striking is the fact that the alarm of only five or six years ago over the public schools has seemed to fade away. It is as if the problem of overcrow ding, underpaid and overworked teachers, antiquated and even dangerous school buildings had by some unseen force been solved, But what has happened, in the view of knowledgeable observers, is that out of frustration with repeated failure to make any progress the whole question of the deteriorating American educational system has been swept under the rug. Plagued by the religious controversy, legislators have shunted the challenge of aid to elementary and secondary schools into the background, Apparently in the conviction that out of sight out of. mind all except a few conscientious members of Congress are content to let it Stay there. But a new National Committee for Support of the Public Schools has come into being with the aim of getting attention focussed on a condition that has, if anything, worsened in the years in which a solution has seemed to recede. Made up of more than 500 members in 45 states, the goal is not any particular piece of legislation nor even Federal aid as such. A two-days session to be held here early next month will try to dramatize the threat to America's future in what the committee chairman, Mrs. Agnes E, Meyer, has called an educational system “gearedto our isolationist, agricultural, pre-industrial era". Covering a wide political spectrum, the committee is analyzing the complex difficulties that stand in the way of adequate school support as the burden of an ever-increasing property tax has produced in some communities a taxpayer's revolt. If one word could sum up the hopes of those who believe that-a new effort must be made for the schools it ight be that magic . word “consensus”. For 15 years the aan fe a consensus on aid . to education has gone on. It goes back to the late Sen. Robert A. Taft of Ohio whohad his own formula and pushed it with the vigor he brought to every enterprise he supported, President Eisenhower wistfully sought a consensus and he had the energetic assistance of Marion B. Folsom, his Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, widely acknowledged to have been the most effective individual to have served in that post since itscre-ation nearly 11 years ago. Folsom, who returned to a top executive position in Eastman Kodak at the end of the Eisenhower Administration, isa participant in the new effort to alert public opinion to an awareness of what a declining school system means. At the start of the current year President Kennedy sent to Congress a lengthy message on education, with a proposal for an omnibus bill covering all forms of Federal aid. Onthe theory that a half or a third of a loaf is better than none the House has untied the education package sent up by the President. Rep, Edith Green, chairman of the subcommittee considering Federal help, hopes for aid to higher education and perhaps also for a separate bill for vocational education. But that is at present the outermost limit of hope. In a session that Republicans are already saying will far outstrip the do-nothingism of Harry Truman's “Eighty -worst” Congress, a consensus on anything is hard to find. Military appropriations, even beyond those requested by the Administration, get an unquestioning consent which is translated into votes with an almostautomatic response. Likewise in the space race Congress appears willing to go along with little or no question. From the present perspective that is just about it. But there are citizens across the country convinced that, if only the need can ‘be brought to full public view, an outpouring of public opinion will work its way on Congress, (Copyright 1963) Mr, Adam Playfair, the retired engineer who lives on a'mounROS ETI

b nk ‘A = Pi aeareerr ~§ ‘Alfred E. Heller, Publisher--R. Dean Thompson, Editor-Manager Second class postage paid at Nevada City, Ca io legal newspaper of genéral circulation by the Nevada C uperior Court, June 3, 1960 Decree N Allert Litho, Nevada City. ubscription rates: One year, $4; Two years, $6; Three years,’ $8. ‘Broad tres, Nevada a 3, 1963..Neva da April . Calif. wad Ast bee Ven oe! wad-As! mabe Te ee! pad-A . SMALL TOWN SMALL WORLD tht TV enes! PAs! Bit Tene! Fad-A,t py ‘eones EDITORIAL Fix The Bridge The value of having two covered bridges’ within easy driving distance of Grass Valley and Nevada City, especially when ‘there are only 12 leftin the entire state, has been overlooked in our county for some time. George C. Pomeroy recently wrote the history of the remaining California covered bridges see Sierra Byways on The historical value of boththe Oregon Creek this page. “and Bridgeport bridges cannot be overemphasized. One is the oldest in California. The other is the longest single span covered bridge in the U. S. As our county grows in its recreational appeal, these two bridges wili play an everincreasing part in attracting tourists and making their stay in our area a pleasant one. Therefore, since the Bridgeport span is in Nevada County, it is of concern to us to see that this attraction gets the care and maintenance that is necessary to preserve it. Pomeroy mentions that the bridge is-not in bad condition. But there are shakes that need replacing, and there are holes in its side that if repaired would help outside elements. to protect it from the And the dirt that is on its floor could and should be removed in order to better protect the bridge. It seems to us that this is a good time: to remind the county road commissioner and county supervisors that the bridge is more than just a way to get across the South Fork of the Yuba River. It is agood time because this is budget time in county government. : While many of our road problems are knotty and expensive, this segment of county responsibility must not be overlooked. Let's get the Bridgeport covered bridge in tip-top shape. It will pay its own way as a monument to the past in addition to its traffic usefulness. Letters To Dear Editor: The date for the Nevada City District School Election draws near. The publicity giving the reasons for the necessity for more funds makes it clear that without _ the additional money our schools will be no credit to our intelligence. Every citizen with children or without children has a responsibility tothe community in which he lives. On one of the great public works in Holland there is the inscription "Built by a people‘who look to their future". Without good schools there is little chance for our future, nor hope for the children of today. Sincerely, Helen Bontecou Nevada City Dear Editor: It is great triumph that Highway 20 is now included inthe State Scenic System, and largely the work of the Nugget. Sincerely, Mrs. Clay M, Landaker Nevada City Dear Editor: You people dont know what you have here," Mrs} B--said as she greeted the members of the club. “As Iw Highway 49, [thought of what we had to doin Arizona, Planta small tree, water it, baby it, pamper it until we could get something like a tree. You have these beautiful trees without lifting a hand to make them grow. " “Yes,” said Mrs, L--, but they're going to tax the trees. " “Tax the trees!" Mrs, B--exclaimedinhorror. “Why, people won't pay that tax. They'll cut down the trees.” “That's just the point,” Mrs.L--answered. “And when we've cut down the trees, what do we have to attract the tourists?" __“Why, that's ridiculous,” Mrs. ‘C--cried. “People don't come t driving along The Edit here to find jobs or start a business. They come here because it's a beautiful place to live. If they take our trees, I wouldn't care to live here." How short-sighted can we get when we despoil and ravage our county of the one asset that distinguishes it from every. other county? When they cut down the timber, the county will have neither the tax money nor the one thing that attracts the investor. Why should the Legislature vote for Scenic Highways along Highway 20 and 49 if the county encourages the tax-payer to cut down the trees. Yours respectfully, Alice Good Farnsworth North San Juan Dear Editor: Five hundred kids in one place is a lot of kids. That's 55 baseball teams with a few coaches. ° And if you try crowding them into. already~full schools, you are in trouble. You have to add 16 teachers and provide space for the’ teacher too. You have to add’ desks and books and pencils and papers. This is why the local schools are in trouble. Since 1958 they have had to make room for 511° new students in Western Nevada County--and no substantial increase inrevenue. It can't be done. Some of them are asking for more money, and they MUST get it. Sincerelyyours, Tyler Micoleau Nevada City Dear Editor: St. John's Indian School and Mission takes this opportunity to thank your many readers for the ‘money, food and clothing sent to. the mission during 1962. A similar drive is under way for. 1963 to help sustain the 400 Indian children and adults at the mission. Yearly individual-and: group sponsorships are also wellif. Adjudicated a County NUGGET = sorpose AGGRE. ue STE COVERED BRIDGES, ..California's Covered Bridges was the title of an article by George C. Pomeroy in the October issue of Covered Bridge Topics published by the National Society for the Preservation of Covered Bridges. ..Pomeroy points out that a survey of covered bridges in California in 1938 listed 27. Now ther€are 12, only eight of which are opentovehicular traffic... All of which makes our covered bridge at Bridgeport part of a rather exclusive little family. And this is what Pomeroy has to Say about the Bridgeport bridge in his article: Bactiaieus At an elevation of 567 feet above sea level, and located over the South Fork of the Yuba River, about 15 miles north-west of Grass Valley, Nevada County, is a remarkable old bridge. Located at the former site of a mining community called Bridgeport it springs from: native rubble masonry abutments for 253 feet in a single un-supported span. It has a roadway clearance of 18 by 25 feet. This is the longest single span covered bridge in the United States and probably in the world. It is of the usual Warren truss design common to the California covered bridges of the longer spans, but with the addition of arches in pairs with the truss between. Itwasbuilt in 1862 out of green timbers hauled from a saw mill higher up in the tall timber ZL AK TIRED oF BEING CHASED UP TREES By Every STUPID DOG ( SHOULO MAKE THE FIRST OVERTURE OF (h MI FRIENPLINESS, (; ALTHOUGH HE WAS EY THE uv‘ en Pay THAT T \ (t's wor FAIR . . tHeRe SHoverd BE ZEQuAt RI6GH7S FOR AL*+, (We Shoue ge . , CAT Awe. DOG Ate! FRIEWM2S, 55OR // \ \ THIS HAS TO Re Doux/. BOT LD svvle region. The fact that it has stood all these years without any noticeable sag or warping is a tribute to the skill and integrity of the builders. Originally the road it serves was one of the main routes of trawl from the boat . landing at Marysville to the northern Mother Lode mining districts. The roadit serves has long been abandoned in favor of a. better and more direct route to this area and it now serves local travel. It is posted for a five ton maximum load but the sign is largely disregarded. It is used by! valley cattlemen when driving their herds to and from summer pasture inthe mountain meadows and at times is filled from end to end with their herds. "Sides and roof are covered withthe original split shakes and remarkably few are missing. Repairs seem to be minor for its length of service and consist mainly of replacement of the wearing surface onthe deck. This bridge replaced an earlier one at the site which was washed out, at which time it was raised to its present height. Built originally as a toll bridge it has been county owned and free for many yeats. Thanks tothe efforts of Columbia

Parlor No. 70 Native Daughters of the Golden West, it has been designated a State Historical Landmark. " And then Pomeroy continues to Oregon Creek, where the oldest covered bridge in the state is situated: "Built in 1860 it is of Howe truss construction with 14 by 18 inch hand hewn timbers of the truss in excellent condition which look as sound as the day they were erected, Vertical board siding encloses it, but the wooden roof has been replaced by galvanized iron. In its day it carried heavy loads of mining equipment to the hydraulic mine workings of the Pike and Allegheny district. With the outlawing of hydraulic mining many years ago, on account of the damage caused by debris down Stream, this bridge had declined in use until the lumbering activity of recent years demonstrated its importance tothe economy of the region. With the growing practice of trucking logs to larger mills away from the cutting area, it was necessary to add re-inforcement tothe deck. Structural steel was used for this purpose. At an elevation of approximately 2000 feet it isa popular spot for fishermen and hunters. The forest service maintains an improved camp ground on both sides of the stream below the bridge. " With the oldest covered bridge in the state and the longest single span covered bridge in the world just a dozen miles apart, and both within easy reach of GV and NC by auto, weare likely missing a bet by not promoting their existence to a greater extent. By Assemblyman Paul Lunardi School finance will probably be a top problem at sessions of our California Legislature for generations to come, It's certainly a major topic at ourcurrent gathering, one which will require much of our time. Support of our public school system comes primarily from two SOurces, state funds and local funds. The population explosion. of the past 15 years which necessitated enormous expansion in our . school facilities has strained both sources to the breaking point. One of our constant tasks in this area’ has been to match resources as closely as possible toneeds, which is anything but easy. During the interim since our last regular session, considerable interest has been directed-to the increasing difficulty local school districts have been experiencing in securing voter approval of new bond issues. The State Constitution requires a two-thirds vote to secure approval of a school bond issue. A considerable number of issues submitted have failed to receive this proportion of favorcomed. Readers may contact: Brother Bernardino B. Brophy, St. John's Indian School and Mission, Komatke Villa ge, Laveen P.O., Arizona. Thank: you for your interest in this project. Sincerely yours, Harold Wagenheim Los Angeles School Financing A Top State Problem able votes, even though they did get a majority or more of those cast. An Assemb1]y constitutional amendment proposing to lower the percentage of votes required for approval of a school bond issue to 60 percent has been introduced in this session, Recently it was heard by the Assembly Edu* cation Committee, and was sent tothe floor with a favorable recommendation for passage. If it receives the two-thirds approval of the members of both houses, it will appear on the ballot at the next general election for voter consideration. The record shows that in 196061, there were 249 school bond issues submitted tovotersin California, calling for $470 million in bonds. Of these, 73 percent were approved, for $366 million. Twenty -one of the defeated issues got more than 60 percent, but less than 66 2/3 percent of the votes cast. In 1961-62, the percentage of issues approved fell to 57 percent, for $174 out of $470 million, Thirty -seven defeated issues received between 60 percent and the required two-thirds of the vote.cast. One of the most difficult factors in the school cost situation to deal with has been construction of new classrooms to house the ever-growing enrollments in elementary and high schools, and junior colleges. Soon after the end of the War it bécame apparent that many school districts could not finance needed new construction through bonds. The standard statutory: limit of five percent of assessed value on such bonds simply would not produce enough money for the building requirements of some districts. During our past few sessions, much legislative attention has been paidtothis matter of school construction costs and how best to pay for them. Some study has been given to the advisability of increasing the statutory limit on bonds for individual districts from five percent to ten percent of assessed valuation, but no action wastaken, Other ideas have also been reviewed. To aid "impoverished" districts, the Legislature passed, and the voters approved the first of a series of bond issues for construction loans toschooldistricts which had nearly exhausted their own bonding capacity, and still needed funds for new classrooms. So far, a total of $1.335 billion of such bonds have been okehed, but it seems likely future proposals for the same purpose may be submitted to the voters, . RENO LAKE TAHOE LAS VEGAS with qualified, trained, commercial pilots in safe, well maintained aircraft. Cql-Net Airways LOMA RICA. AIRPORT PHONE 273-6151 . . by Alfred Heller tain and oversees the state of California, came off of it the other day long enough to barge*in and declare himself on the state of "You know what is the biggest burden on the backs of all of us?” he asked, "Taxes?" "No. The biggest burden on the backs of all of us is a sack of unanswered questions.” ’ “Like about chemical pesticides in our food?" I said knowingly. Like about everything!" he rejoined. I had no choice but to sit back while he emptied his sack. : “Take our schools," he started off. “Do we believe in education or don 't we? If we do, why can't we dig up the taxes that will support them properly? If the property tax is getting too heavy in one area, why can't it be balanced off by assistance from other areas where the tax base is broader? Or if that won't work, when will we admit that many localities can't support their schools and must have more state and federal aid which is based mainly on the income tax? Is it really true that we can't support our schools locally? Can we sit around and expect our school problem to solve itself? Can we afford to sit around and drink whiskey and chew candies while our children grow up to be as badly educated as we are? "Take transportation. When are we going to admit that the internal combustion ergine doesn't belong in cars? Will we believe the experts who tell us smog will continue to get worse due to auto exhaust, or will we blindly put our faith in exhaust control gadgets? Is anybody at all doing basic research in new sources of power for cars? Will we have to keep cars and highways out of our cities or lose our cities under pavement? Did you know that onethird of the space in our cities is used now for streets and parking lots? Why should we build more streets and parking lots and thereby invite more people to buy cars and drive them in to the cities, creating the need for more streets and more cars? Is any agency ‘inthis country doing research into new kinds of rapid mass transit? Could our scientists help people to sprout wings and fly, or at least come up with some new ideas for transportation? "Take the loss of open space in California. Can we depend on local zoning to prevent it from being overrun by subdivisions? How much dowe care about our good farm land and our best recreation land? Is it enough to create a few state parks and let the rest of the state go by the boards? How much open land do we want in California, and how can we go about seeing that we have it? "Take unemployment, Take the problem of costly and overlapping local governments. Take our water supply. Take all these problems and ask questions, " ‘ At this-juncture, Playfair looked at his watch, stood up, and walked airily out of the room. He looked a new man, noticeably lighter of step than a few minutes ago. As for me, I felt newly weighted down with a sack of unanswered questions. WASHINGTO CALLING By MARQUIS CHILDS WASHINGTON ---With Congress about to take what one cynical member describes as a recess within a recess the prospect for legislation in major fields where the need has long been recognized is bleak indeed. One of those fields is education. A jurisdictional tangle over aid to medical education has put a new obstacle in the way of what seemedto have the most promise--loans or grants, and perhaps both, to colleges and universities. With two powerful committee chairmen contending for their respective tights, those who Oppose any legislation, such as wily Howard Smith presiding over the Rules Committee, have a perfect opening. What is most striking is the fact that the alarm of only five or six years ago over the public schools has seemed to fade away. It is as if the problem of overcrow ding, underpaid and overworked teachers, antiquated and even dangerous school buildings had by some unseen force been solved, But what has happened, in the view of knowledgeable observers, is that out of frustration with repeated failure to make any progress the whole question of the deteriorating American educational system has been swept under the rug. Plagued by the religious controversy, legislators have shunted the challenge of aid to elementary and secondary schools into the background, Apparently in the conviction that out of sight out of. mind all except a few conscientious members of Congress are content to let it Stay there. But a new National Committee for Support of the Public Schools has come into being with the aim of getting attention focussed on a condition that has, if anything, worsened in the years in which a solution has seemed to recede. Made up of more than 500 members in 45 states, the goal is not any particular piece of legislation nor even Federal aid as such. A two-days session to be held here early next month will try to dramatize the threat to America's future in what the committee chairman, Mrs. Agnes E, Meyer, has called an educational system “gearedto our isolationist, agricultural, pre-industrial era". Covering a wide political spectrum, the committee is analyzing the complex difficulties that stand in the way of adequate school support as the burden of an ever-increasing property tax has produced in some communities a taxpayer's revolt. If one word could sum up the hopes of those who believe that-a new effort must be made for the schools it ight be that magic . word “consensus”. For 15 years the aan fe a consensus on aid . to education has gone on. It goes back to the late Sen. Robert A. Taft of Ohio whohad his own formula and pushed it with the vigor he brought to every enterprise he supported, President Eisenhower wistfully sought a consensus and he had the energetic assistance of Marion B. Folsom, his Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, widely acknowledged to have been the most effective individual to have served in that post since itscre-ation nearly 11 years ago. Folsom, who returned to a top executive position in Eastman Kodak at the end of the Eisenhower Administration, isa participant in the new effort to alert public opinion to an awareness of what a declining school system means. At the start of the current year President Kennedy sent to Congress a lengthy message on education, with a proposal for an omnibus bill covering all forms of Federal aid. Onthe theory that a half or a third of a loaf is better than none the House has untied the education package sent up by the President. Rep, Edith Green, chairman of the subcommittee considering Federal help, hopes for aid to higher education and perhaps also for a separate bill for vocational education. But that is at present the outermost limit of hope. In a session that Republicans are already saying will far outstrip the do-nothingism of Harry Truman's “Eighty -worst” Congress, a consensus on anything is hard to find. Military appropriations, even beyond those requested by the Administration, get an unquestioning consent which is translated into votes with an almostautomatic response. Likewise in the space race Congress appears willing to go along with little or no question. From the present perspective that is just about it. But there are citizens across the country convinced that, if only the need can ‘be brought to full public view, an outpouring of public opinion will work its way on Congress, (Copyright 1963) Mr, Adam Playfair, the retired engineer who lives on a'mounROS ETI