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The Herald and The Lantern

Wednesday. January 16, ISM

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Frugality In Gov’t

In theie belt-tightening days of seemingly never-ending ir\flation, it’s comforting to know that county government, at least, is doing what it can from within to squeeze every last nickel out of every dollar spent. Accountability must be mqre than a catch word and rhetoric these days; it must be reality and it has to be consistent and pervasive if everyone involved in government is to practice what the new purchasing agent is

, perfecting and preaching.

Fortunately, Bill Deaver and his crew

seem to have a good team effort going in their’sn\all, shared office on the second floor of tfte county library building in Cape May Court House. There's a good espirit de corps there, despite the mundane, repetative *

nature of their paperwork task.

4.000 PURCHASE ORDERS are a lot to wade through in less than a year’s time. But the reality of dealing with over $10 million worth of purchases in the long haul brings

home the importance of treating each

request with individual attention. Afterall, that averages out to $2,500 per request. Two such orders represent the cost of a new car (compact and stripped as it may be for that

price).

In the administration of his relatively new office, county purchasing agent Deaver must have the utmost cooperation of each and every department head in the county employ. It is to the credit of most that their cooperation was forthcoming. To one extent, . they made it possible for the county to save

big bucks.

BY ITS VERY NATURE, the perplexity of

government demands internal fiscal scrutiny

if it is to be as economical as it can be. It can be ^ery .frugal, and so it should. There are great amounts of money to be saved in bulk purchasing, consolidating orders, participating in buying from state vendor lists. And here, county government is doing just that. It has been successful to the tune of many thousands of dollars in less than its first year of operation. And Deaver, rightfully, sees even more savings in the

future.

By investing wisely, money does make money (and here too the county, under treasurer Phil Matalucci has been highly successful). By purchasing prudently our tax dollars are stretched. Perhaps not as much as inflation is tugging on them; but the savings are there. If only we were all so successful on the ,homefront. Be Sure To Ask Stores Don’t Have To Offer Refunds

By Adam I^*vln NEWARK - We all know the familiar January scene. Crowds of shoppers scurrying from orie department store counter to another, trying to exchange or return their holiday gifts You mdy have received presents that you would like to return because they don’t fit properly or don't suit your taste. Unfortunately, though, you may not be entitled to a refund on that pink polka dot thing your In-laws , thought would be perfect with your blue blazer New Jersey doesn't have a law requiring stores to offer refunds or exchanges. In fact, merchants don't even have to post their refund policies. Therefore, you should always ask about a store's policy before making a purchase.

ftEMEMBER TOO that you pay for liberal refund policy, so products covered by such a policy may cost a little more. But that added cost could be worthwhile if you think you may return the product Adam K. Levin is director of the Division of Consumer Affairs with the N.J Dept of Law and Public Safety.

Letters To The Editor

Joy Adamson

A Friend Who Cared

To the Editor: f

Animal lovers all over the Earth must be saddened by the news of the violent death of Joy Adamson, author of Bom Free and other books about Elsa-the lioness that she and her husband raised and later released. It would have been ironic if, as early reports had it, she had been killed by a marauding lion; but her soul would have forgiven it. More recent announcements said that she had been murdered; if true, one assumes that that same soul will forever wonder at man's brutality. Joy did not love only the big cats. When friends and I • came to visit her at Hsamerfe-her ranch-type home in the Rift Valley, 50-miles outside Nairobi, named for her feline heroine and the lake that laps at the foot of the sloping lawn—she was nowhere in sight. A sheet of paper fluttered in a portable typewriter on a card table among the shrubs. Then a voice came from beyond the trees, urging us to help ourselves to gin-and-tonic and tea cakes. (Born in Austria. English gastronomical

tastes were alien to her.

It turned out that Joy was looking for a baby colobus monkey that she had recently acquired; a tiny, beautiful creature with a long tail, all black, except for a white "scarf' around its neck. She had been trying to get an adult female colobus to adopt it. That animal had just lost its mate (some fool had shot him) and was nursing a male offspring. For some reason Joy's ploy failed, t

She lived all alone. George, her game warden

husband, stayed out in the bush. Pointing to a radio * transmitter/receiver. Joy told us that it had been their sole means of communication until it broke down, and

she had never got around to have it fixed. Unaware until then that Joy was Austrian-born, her

heavy Germanic accent surprised me, as did the odd

grammar and syntax of a note in English to the

stationery store people to whom she asked us to take a typewriter in need of repair. We never did find out who

edited her wonderful stories.

What many people may not have known is that Joy was also an accomplished artist. Reproductions of her fine paintings are on display in the Nairobi Museum and for sale in book stores. Post cards of the same works, mostly depicting Kenyan tribes people in native dress, are published by the East Africa Wild Life Society. When Joy autographed some of her books for us we noticed for the first time her badly mutilated right hand-the result of an auto accident How fortunate we Ojought then that she had been spared otherwise; and that nothing had marred her happy face with its big smile. ° Humans grown-ups and children over the entire world—and the animals of Kenya-have lost a friend who

cared.

Gerrit J.W. Heyneker Avalon

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Our Own Gov 9 t Is Stifling Us

th« SOVEREIGN STATE of AFFAIRS

THE RUSSIAN INVASION Of AFGHANISTAN IS A REAL SHOCKER HUH’

By Beech Fox One of my main reasons for entering the Congressional race is the problems I have encountered as a small businessman and taxpayer because of inflation and oppressive taxes. I believe everyone is aware of the problem—that the worker pays 37 cents tax out of every Bpllar earned. This is totally wrong. I propose that Congress stop talking and start taking action to correct this problem. The public is being led to believe that these taxes are necessary. I state they are both unreasonable and unnecessary. It’s time to change policymakers when poor policies cause economic chaos. Inflation is deceiving many people because it seems that we have more money but it buys less and less. Double digit inflation is basically the result of poor economic management by government. Examples are: government intervention into private sector; excessive government spending and an unbalanced Federal budget. IT IS TIME to address ourselves to the problem. I favor a deep and permanent income tax cut for all individuals by at least 30 percent of the present rates; this done over a three year period. This would definitely break the shackle of government stifling economy in the free market. It would stimulate economic growth by providing incentives for the wage earners who BOYD* WOOD

would keep a much larger portion of their earnings— which is rightfully theirs anyway. Productivity, presently at an all-ttme low, would definitely increase. It would alsd give an incentive to work and increase business as a result of increased after tax rewards. Our country was built on competition and incentive to out-work and outproduce others. We Americans have lost that because of the oppressive tax programs that penalize us for hard work. THIS TAX CUT alone would no! be the answer but we must couple it with other meaningful and effective programs. It has to start with an absolute curb on government ' spending. We also have to reduce the astronomic federal budget. There has to be a mandated balanced federal budget. Again, a lot of talk but very little action toward this necessity. Realistic steps must be taken to reduce govern- 4 ment regulation upon the free market sysfcm in every sector. We must reduce the corporate tax rate to stimulate business expansion and the job market. Finally we must allow individuals and families to invest savings for substantial interest income before any taxes would be imposed. I would suggest a figure in the range of at least $25,000." Fox said. I firmly believe these programs will work. They must be started now before any further financial chaos faces the public. The present Democrat administration in Washington, of which my opponent William Hughes, is a part is doing a lot of talking but no acting. I believe the people will act by replacing these officials this November. BEECH FOX of Cape May Court House is seeking the second Congressional seat as the Republican candidate. He is currently county sheriff.