Reorganization in Illinois and Its Results
| Date | 01 May 1924 |
| DOI | 10.1177/000271622411300121 |
| Author | Frank O. Lowden |
| Published date | 01 May 1924 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
156
Reorganization
in
Illinois
and
Its
Results
BY
FRANK
O.
LOWDEN
Governor
of
Illinois,
1917-21
DURING
the
last
century
every
JL~
great
private
industry
has
under-
gone
a
complete
transformation.
As
civilization
has
become
more
complex,
the
machinery
of
business
has
changed
continuously
to
meet
its
changing
needs.
In
the
machinery
of
govern-
ment
alone
there
has
been
little
prog-
ress
during
all
this
time.
Yet
the
business
of
government
has
grown
in
complexity
and
in
the
number
of
sub-
jects
with
which
it
deals
quite
as
rapidly
as
has
private
enterprise.
This
failure
has
been
due
largely
to
the
fact
that
until
recently
the
total
expenses
of
government
were
so
small,
relatively,
as
to
influence
but
little
the
general
pros-
perity
of
the
country.
During
political
campaigns
parties
have
frequently
charged
each
other
with
extravagance,
but
the
people
have been
little
inter-
ested,
because
revenues
were
largely
derived
from
indirect
sources
and
no
burden
was
felt.
Now,
however,
state
and
federal
taxes,
by
virtue
of
their
weight,
have
become
directly
related
to
all
economic
questions
of
the
day.
Who
can
doubt
that
the
heavy
taxes
levied
by
govern-
ment
are
an
important
factor
in
the
high
cost
of
living?
The
Government
is
powerless
to
prevent
a
substantial
part,
at
least,
of
such
taxes
being
passed
on
to
the
consumer.
We
now
see
that
no
form
of
taxation
has
been
devised
which
will
be
borne
in
fact
by
the
rich
alone.
The
community
as
a
whole
in
one
form
or
another
must
pay
the
cost
of
government.
In
its
turn,
the
high
cost
of
living
has
an
intimate
bearing
upon
the
present
unrest.
The
great
problems
for
the
next
few
years,
at
least,
will
be
economic
and
industrial
and
to
all
of
them
the
question
of
taxa-
tion
now
has
a
direct
and
important
relation.
Business
and
industry
generally,
in
making
plans
for
the
future,
must
reckon
first
with
the
question
of
taxes,
which
have
reached
the
point
already
where
private
initiative
is
discouraged
and
where
enterprise
in
some
cases
halts.
More
than
once
in
recent
years
I
have
had
small
manufacturers
and
small
business
men
from
various
parts
of
the
state
come
into
my
office
and
announce
that
they
were
going
to
close
out
their
establishments.
&dquo;Why?
Isn’t
your
business
good ? &dquo;
&dquo; Yes,
but
these
are
uncertain
times.
We
can’t
be
sure
that
losses
will
not
come,
and
if
losses
do
come
we
must
stand
the
entire
loss
ourselves,
while
if
fortunately
we
do
make
profits,
we
must
give
the
Government
the
greater
portion
of
the
profits.
So
we
are
going
to
withdraw
from
business.&dquo;
This
does
not
promise
well
for
either
capital
or
labor
in
the
coming
years.
It
means
a
checking
of
industry
through
the
discouragement
of
initia-
tive
in
business
by
excessive
burdens,
and
when
that
sort
of
situation
comes
the
people
as
a
whole
invariably
suffer.
Even
before
the
war
men
were
im-
pressed
by
the
continued
increase
in
the
expenses
of
city,
state
and
national
government.
The
activities
of
gov-
ernment
have
multiplied
rapidly
during
recent
years-more
rapidly
than
was
warranted.
When
the
state
or
nation
decided
to
take
on
some
new
function,
instead
of
fitting
it
into
some
agency
of
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