The purchase of school supplies has always been a problem with rural school boards. San Luis Obispo County Boards made an attempt several years ago to form some sort of organization for co-operative purchasing of the ordinary school supplies. This was done with some degree of success for one year, but was discontinued because it was impossible to find someone who would be responsible for carrying out the necessary details. It had been the custom with certain supply houses to send their agents into the county, and it appeared that these agents were authorized to load up the schools with all kinds of supplies. and charge whatever prices could be attached to the orders. We had instances where schools in the same neighborhood during the same trip of the agent were charged different prices. One country school was sent twelve quart bottles of red ink in a single order, or three gallons of red ink for a school of twenty-five pupils.

Some of the clerks had spoken to me after I became county superintendent relative to making another attempt at county purchasing. We saw that some effort should be made to protect the small schools against the over-ambitious agent. I took up the matter with the county purchasing agent here. During the year 1922-23 twenty-five schools accepted the plan.

The year previous, 1921-22, some of the prices paid for common articles were: Pens, per gross, $1.50; ink, per quart, $1.50; paste, per pint, $1; manila drawing paper, per ream, $325; legal cap, per ream, $5.40; blotters, per gross, $1; cut news, per pound, 19 cents. In addition the schools paid the freight. During the following year with only twenty-five schools represented, these prices were practically cut in two and prices paid for the same articles ranged as follows: Pens, 75 cents; ink, $1; paste, 65 cents; drawing paper, 90 cents; legal cap, $2.16; blotters, 35 cents; cut news, 5 cents.

Our plan proved a success from the first and in time all of the schools of the county adopted it. Last year our prices for the same articles were as follows: Pens, 50 cents; ink, 60 cents; paste, 45 cents; drawing paper, 63 cents; legal cap, $1.40; blotters, 27 cents; cut news, 434 cents.

This year our prices are about the same, with pos sibly a little change higher or lower. During the year 1922-23 and subsequently, the prices are quoted delivered to San Luis Obispo or destination. The saving on freight alone is quite an item. The estimated saving to the schools on supplies purchased through the county purchasing agent is about $5000 per year. We have practically eliminated the visiting agent and time is saved to the teacher and school board.

During the first years of purchasing by this method, we received the orders from the various boards and gathered these under classifications for the purpose of receiving bids. After the bid was received, each order was sent to the suc cessful bidder and was filled and sent directly to the school. This was not altogether successful, because a few schools ordered too much material and it was difficult to get a check on the materials and invoices. When there was a mistake it was hard to get an adjustment.

About this time our office was moved from the Court House to a vacant store room, and we decided to accumulate all of the orders and have the entire shipment sent to San Luis Obispo. This plan has proven very successful. Goods are sent here and checked, and the orders are made up for the individual schools to be taken by the teacher or clerk or by anyone who comes in from the district and is willing to take the package to the school. Our system of rural supervision has aided also in getting the packages to the rural schools. Now schools get what they want and do not need to take any more than is necessary. We are in a position to inspect the articles and make them right if there is any mistake in the shipment.

Our only regret in carrying out this plan is that the local dealers who were doing a legiti mate business have been practically eliminated from participating in the business. But in so many cases the outside agents were reaping such an undeserved harvest, it appeared that some thing had to be done. Practically all of the local dealers throughout the county have stated that the plan should be continued.

Secretary Hubert Work of the Interior Department, in a letter to Representative N. J. Sinnott of Oregon, chairman of the House Public Lands Committee, gives information which is of value in considering a proposal to give the states compensation for the presence therein of Federal lands which are exempt from taxation, or other state control. The subject was advanced in the public thought by the adoption of a resolution by the Western States Taxpayers' Conference held in Los Angeles during October, 1926, which resolution

was:

RESOLVED, that a committee of three be ap pointed to investigate and report on the advis ability of urging the Federal Government to pay annually to states in which public lands are located, sums equivalent to the prevailing rate of taxes upon an equal acreage of similar lands in such states.

Also the National Tax Conference had the matter under consideration at Philadelphia in November, 1926. The TAX DIGEST takes from Secretary Work's letter the following statements:

Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Michigan, Arkansas, Florida, Iowa and Wisconsin were granted one section in each township, or one-thirty-sixth of the area of the township, for school purposes. California, Minnesota, Oregon, Kansas, Nebraska, Washington, Dakota, Montana, Idaho and Wyoming were granted two sections in each township, or oneeighteenth of the township, for school purposes. Utah, New Mexico, Arizona and Oklahoma were granted four sections in each township, or oneninth of the total area of the land in the township.

The total area granted Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming, of school sections in place aggregates a total of 49,276,303 acres, of

A Berlin cablegram says of the current German budget that "the only satisfaction. the taxpayer finds in the bill presented to him today is the Presidential item. The total expenditures of President Von Hindenburg amount only to $149,000, in 1927, compared with $9,000,000 which Germany paid its princes before the war. President Von Hindenburg's pay envelope is $14,500; expenses and allowances. $134,500."

which there remains unsurveyed an area of approximately 3,381,919 acres.

One of my predecessors a few years ago made an estimate of the value of the "national estate" in the remaining public-land areas, substantially as follows:

Sale value of the surface of public lands outside national forests-190,000,000 acres-$310,000,000.

Value of national forests and resources, $1,000,000,000.

Royalty value of coal in public ownership; bituminous, 10,000,000,000 tons, at 10 cents; sub-bituminous, 30,000,000,000 tons at 8 cents, and lignite, 50,000,000,000 tons, at 5 cents, aggregating $5,900,000,000.

Royalty value of 700,000,000 barrels of oil, at 121⁄2 per cent, $175,000,000.

Royalty value of 50,000,000,000 barrels of shale oil, at 5 per cent, $5,000,000,000.

Royalty value of 3,500,000,000 tons of phosphate, at 2 per cent, $280,000,000.

Royalty value of 20,000,000 tons of potash, at 2 per cent, $30,000,000.

Royalty value, Alaska; coal of all grades, 20,000,000,000 tons, at 5 cents, $1,000,000,000. Twenty-five million barrels of oil, at 10 per cent, $2,500,000.

Total estimated royalty and sale value of public lands and resources, $13,697,500,000.

In addition, he estimated the annual return from water power on the public lands, at 10 cents per horsepower per year, $1,550,000.

Secretary Work Opposes a Bill to Cede Unreserved Public Domain to the States

Secretary Work has also written Senator Robert N. Stanfield of Oregon, chairman, Committee on Public Lands and Surveys of the Senate, opposing "the enactment of a bill introduced in the Senate proposing that the Federal government cede the entire unreserved public domain to the states." Secretary Work took the position that, if such a bill were enacted, it "would mean the end of Federal reclamation and Federal conservation."

The profits of sales made by a foreign firm through any kind of an intermediary resident in New Zealand are taxable even though the contract is not concluded there. In other words, whenever a person resident in New Zealand is instrumental in securing an order for an American or any other foreign enterprise, the resulting profits will be assessable in the name of the agent, who shall have recourse against the seller for the amount of tax paid.

THE TAX DIGEST

JOHN LATHROP, Editor

Vol. 4

FEBRUARY, 1927

No. 2

Opinions expressed by writers herein are not necessarily the opinions of the Editor of this magazine, but are printed in the interests of free discussion.

Three eminent engineers, men of the highest integrity and ability and adequate experience are making a study and will report on the San Gabriel flood control problem. These engineers will go into the economic, hydrographic, geologic and engineering facts. They were employed agreeable with a suggestion made by a joint committee of several civic bodies, transmitted through the chairman thereof, Arthur S. Bent, as president of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, after the supervisors had asked the chamber to act. The supervisors accepted the suggestion, and on January 10, 1927, the engineers began their work. In order that the record may be complete, THE TAX DIGEST here prints the later history of this matter.

THE SUPERVISORS' REQUEST On November 15, 1926, the Los Angeles Board of County Supervisors addressed a letter to the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, saying:

We hereby request the Chamber of Commerce of Los Angeles, a body of public spirited citizens,

to suggest and recommend to this Board some plan for an unprejudiced and unbiased investigation of the whole San Gabriel project, to the end that public confidence in this great undertaking may not be misplaced.

The Chamber of Commerce directors on November 23, 1926, advised the supervisors:

The Board of Directors of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce appointed a special committee to consider this matter. This committee deemed it of public interest to call into co-operation representatives of other civic bodies, to-wit: the Los Angeles Clearing House, the Los Angeles Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the Municipal League and California Taxpayers' Association.

The committee of the Chamber of Commerce consisted of Arthur S. Bent, presi

dent of the chamber, chairman; Geo. I. Cochran, Harry J. Bauer, William Lacy and John W. Kemp. The Clearing House was represented by W. R. Morehouse; the Los Angeles Section, American Society of Civil Engineers, by H. A. Van Norman, president, and Raymond A. Hill, past-president; the Municipal League by H. L. Moller, president, and Clark E. Bell, member of the executive committee; California Taxpayers' Association by Joy A. Winans, chairman of the Los Angeles City Committee, and John Lathrop, editor, THE TAX DIGEST.

This committee met several times, and on December 21, 1926, Mr. Bent, the chairman, sent to the Board of Supervisors a letter outlining a suggested plan of proce dure and the employment of three engi neers, Charles H. Paul of Dayton, O.; Frederick H. Fowler of San Francisco, and Charles D. Marx of Stanford University, with instructions to study and report on the control and conservation of the flood waters of the San Gabriel, balancing all hydrographic and economic factors.

On December 27, the Board of Supervisors officially accepted the proposal in the form of a resolution which employed the engineers in the manner suggested. On January 10, the engineers arrived in Los Angeles and were given a suite of two rooms at the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, with equipment adequate to their needs. They proceeded immediately with their duties, it being understood that they would be able to report by the end of March.

The action of the Chamber of Commerce and the Joint Committee and the Supervisors has apparently been endorsed by the public, which seems to rejoice that at last a competent, adequate, unbiased and final study and report will be made which will

settle, it is hoped for all time, the controversy which has unfortunately been waged over flood control action in Los Angeles County.

The three engineers are men of the high. est ability and experience, none of whom has ever expressed an opinion so far as is known on flood control matters in Los Angeles County, and who have had to do with none of the previous reports. They entered upon their work absolutely without any thesis to prove or disprove; were given an open commission and instructed to learn the facts-hydrographic, economic, engineering and geologic.

THE TAX DIGEST here prints in full the letter of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce to the supervisors, and the resolution of the supervisors accepting the proposals. The taxpayers are urged to read these two communications with exceeding care, in order to get the complete facts upon which to base their judgment.

THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
PROPOSAL

The Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce.
Office of the President.
December 21, 1926.
Honorable Board of Supervisors,
Hall of Records,
Los Angeles.
Gentlemen:

The Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce and the other organizations it has associated with itself in connection with the San Gabriel Dam question, which you referred to us, fully appreciating the honor and responsibility, suggest the following plan of procedure which we hope will clarify the situation and expedite the construction of necessary flood control works on the San Gabriel. In order that our conclusions may be clearly understood, we beg to review the matter briefly as follows:

On November 15th we received an invitation from you to make certain suggestions in accordance with the formal resolution passed by your Honorable Body on November 10th, reading: "We hereby request the Chamber of Commerce of Los Angeles, a body of public spirited citizens, to suggest and recommend to this Board some plan for an unprejudiced and unbiased investigation of the whole San Gabriel project, to the end that public confidence in this great undertaking may not be misplaced."

The matter was placed before the Board of Directors of this Chamber at its first meeting following the receipt of your communication, and on November 23rd, we wrote you in part as follows: "The Board of Directors of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce appointed a special

committee to consider this matter. This committee deemed it of public interest to call into co-operation representatives of other civic bodies, to-wit: the Los Angeles Clearing House, the Los Angeles Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the Municipal League and the California Taxpayers' Association.

The various organizations were represented by the following personnel:

Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce-Arthur S. Bent, chairman; George I. Cochran, Harry J. Bauer, William Lacy, John W. Kemp.

The Los Angeles Clearing House-W. R. Morehouse.

Los Angeles Section, American Society of Civil Engineers-H. A. Van Norman, president; Raymond A. Hill, past-president.

Municipal League-H. L. Moller, president; Clark E. Bell, member executive committee. California Taxpayers' Association-Joy A. Winans, chairman, Los Angeles Committee; John Lathrop, editor, The Tax Digest.

By unanimous vote, this combined group recommend to your Honorable Body the following procedure:

We will suggest to you the names of three representative engineers whose standing should establish confidence in the public mind, you to appoint these men as an investigating body to be instructed by you in an open letter to make a thorough study of all phases of the control and conservation of the flood waters of the San Gabriel, and to make a public report of their findings.

Also that all engineering and other data bearing upon this project, in possession of your Honorable Body, or the Engineering Department of the Los Angeles County Flood Control District, be placed at the disposal of these engineers to facilitate their study.

On November 24th, we received a letter from you indicating your approval of this general plan of procedure, and immediately proceeded to the selection of engineers for this important task. The Chamber of Commerce committee, with the sincere and earnest co-operation of the other civic bodies above named, determined upon a basis of selection, after long discussion of the importance of the various factors to be considered.

Since the investigating board is to be composed of technical men, the Los Angeles Section, American Society of Civil Engineers, was asked by the others of this group to rate a number of the best qualified engineers according to their professional standing, technical training, experience with this type of problem, soundness of judg ment, and their freedom from technical or personal bias.

After very thorough investigation and consideration of the qualifications of over fifty engineers, including all names which had been suggested to us, the Los Angeles Section, American Society of Civil Engineers, submitted a final list of fifteen names to our group, together with their rating on each point tabulated in the selection schedule.

This difficult and delicate task was performed in a spirit of high public service, and so confident were the representatives of the Chamber of Commerce and the other civic bodies of the scientific fairness of this selection, that our choice

for the board of engineers was made from the first few names on this list.

In order that there might be nothing to detract from public confidence in the report of this board of engineers, it was unanimously agreed among us that, irrespective of technical qualifications, no man should be selected who had had contact with the controversy, or who was in any way associated with any of the parties thereto.

We then took the liberty of ascertaining the availability of these engineers for immediate service in order that there might be no delay.

We now beg to recommend to your Honorable Body the appointment of Charles H. Paul, Frederick H. Fowler, and Charles D. Marx as a Board of Engineers, and further recommend that they be instructed as follows:

'Make a complete investigation and study of all phases of the control and conservation of the flood waters of the San Gabriel and make a public report of your findings and conclusions as to that plan of development which best balances all hydraulic and economic factors."

The professional records of these engineers are given herewith for your information and consideration:

CHARLES H. PAUL-Born 1875 at Rockport, Mass.; educated at Massachusetts Institute of Technology; from 1896 to 1904 on the water supply of various eastern cities; from 1904 to 1915 with the United States Reclamation Service, during which time he was in charge of the design and construction of the Arrowrock Dam; since 1915 has been chief engineer and consulting engineer of Miami Conservancy District, and in private practice as a consulting engineer; member and director, American Society of Civil Engineers. Present address, Dayton Trust & Savings Bldg., Dayton, Ohio.

FREDERICK H. FOWLER-Born 1879 at Custer, Montana; graduated 1905 from Stanford University; from 1905 to 1910 on general engineering work, principally in California; from 1910 to 1922 with United States Forest Service, first as hydro-electric engineer and later as engineering representative of the Federal Power Commission in California and Western Nevada; since 1922 in private prac tice as a consulting engineer; member American Society of Civil Engineers. Present address, 1300 First National Bank Bldg., San Francisco.

CHARLES D. MARX-Born 1857 at Toledo, Ohio; holds engineering degrees from several American and European universities; prior to 1891 principally on railroad and public works; since 1891 professor of civil engineering at Stanford University, and engaged in practice as a consulting engineer; member and past-president, American Society of Civil Engineers and chairman, Arch Dam Test Committee for Engineering Foundation. Present address, Stanford University, California. We believe that the Board of Engineers should establish an office in Los Angeles, where all data will be readily available, in order that the investigation may be expedited without sacrificing thor

oughness. It is believed by our committee that the investigation and study can be completed in about sixty working days and that a report can be submitted by the end of March.

We take the liberty of further suggesting that the compensation of the Board of Engineers be fixed at a total sum of from $25,000 to $30,000.

This total fee, plus allowances for unavoidable delays, should cover all costs of the office of the board, the staffs of the three engineers engaged upon the work, and all traveling expenses incurred in connection therewith. It is understood that the Los Angeles County Flood Control District will conduct such surveys and field investigations as may be found necessary by the Board of Engi

neers.

We thank you for the confidence you have reposed in us, and trust that the sincere efforts of this group of civic bodies will meet with your approval. Respectfully yours,

LOS ANGELES CHAMBER OF COMMERCE. (Signed) ARTHUR S. BENT,

President.

THE SUPERVISORS ACCEPT PLAN Office of the Board of Supervisors of the County of Los Angeles, State of California, Monday, December 27, 1926, 8:30 a. m. The Board of Supervisors of Los Angeles County Flood Control District met pursuant to adjournment. Present: Supervisors R. F. McClellan, chairman, presiding; Fred T. Beaty, J. H. Bean, Sidney T. Graves and Henry W. Wright; and L. E. Lampton, clerk, by Mame B. Beatty, deputy clerk.

In re flood control: Order approving recommendations of Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce and other organizations relating to plan of procedure for proposed settlement of controversy relating to San Gabriel Dam project, and appointing Board of Engineers for investigation and report.

A report by the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, signed by Arthur S. Bent, president, dated December 21, 1926, suggesting, in behalf of said Chamber of Commerce and other organizations named in said report with which it is associated in connection with investigation of the San Gabriel Dam project, a plan of procedure for clarifying said situation and expediting construction of necessary flood control work on the San Gabriel, is presented; and, on motion of Supervisor Graves, duly seconded and carried, it is ordered that said plan of procedure and recommendations contained in said report, be, and they are hereby approved by this board, and that Charles H. Paul, Frederick H. Fowler and Charles D. Marx, be, and they are hereby appointed as a Board of Consulting Engineers, at salaries of $100.00 per day each, plus expenses, for a period not exceeding sixty days, to make a complete investigation and study of all phases of the flood control projects for the control and conservation of the waters of the San Gabriel River and make a report of their findings and conclusions to this board.