The home journal. [volume], June 25, 1952, Image 2

About The home journal. [volume] (Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, V.I.) 1951-1973

Image provided by: University of the Virgin Islands

                
Obhseruation Tmuer
Most school teachers
have precious memories
of graduating classes and
Commencement exercises
but only a few have been
thrilled by the Valedicto
ry address given by a
new Am rican in the first
graduation ceremony in a
new colony. How many
people in St. Thomas can
today remember the
Junior High School vale
dictorian who began with
““Casting about for a sub
jects.. ! i
High School graduation
exercises used to be the
highest point in the aca
demic life of this commu
nity when {he ciplomas
were bed-¢hee: size and
the Ninth Grade was
ultima Thue for our
young people. Many le- l
gislaiors questioned the
wisdom: of allowing thel
children of Punah and
Paul into the sacred pre
cincts of secondary educa-l
tion, but Colonel Arthur
H. Lindb rg would no t
give in to th-m. The most
that happened was that
aliens were sometimes‘
dropped-or a few poor ed
ucational risks were not‘
allowed to repeat. 1
What we can now proud
ly call the Charlotte Ama
lie High School began‘
some Lhirty years pe st
with the work of Miss
Stella M. Tate and Dri
Fred Mac Farlane and
reached its fullest organi
zation under C. Frederick
Dixon two decades ago.
Few alumnia nd others
concerned can appreciate;
what growth the Charlotte
Amalie High School made |
in the yeais between 1930
and 1940. Only a careful
analysis of the now de-!
The Home Journal
J. Antonio Jarvis
funct Reflector can give
that history.
] In the old days of Pub
1i c Examinations, which
| combined graduation and
lpublic testing, only a few
parents and school of
| ficials had the opportunity
'to see & hear the children.
|Mr. O. Rubner-Petersen'’s
iartificial limb, and Mr.
Fjeldsoe's beard, together
with the black soutanes of
the priests, the black robes
of the nuns made many of
us tremble to recite before
‘them.
Graduation day is one of
the proudest days of one'’s
life and I agree with the
Latins and some progressive
schools where Kindergar
ten, Primary, Grammar,
Junior-High, Senior - High
Junior College, and College
diplomas are handed out
with some pomp and cir
cumstance.. It reduces the
explosive power of a single
diploma after twelve years
of schooling, to have in
troductions or practice
runs. ;
Perhaps only one other
person here can remember
a graduation night when
the Secretary of State
spoke and the song was
“Goodbye--we'll remember
now, this is our final
vow”. The blind student,
full of honors, was Alan
Max. Does that strike a
chord?
I remember a war time
commencement ceremony
where two thousand mem
bers of the Class of '44 were
in the Army or Navy. It
was a cool June afternoon
and one of the nicest girls
from St. Thomas invited
me to sit near to her. No; I
won't say more because
she might write to the Edi
tor. That was a wonderful
continued on page 4 ‘
Our Town And You
The Chamber of Com
merce has completed its
appraisal of the new
group of tax laws submit
ted by the Executive to
the legislature. Its find
ings follow:
We are a tiny island
with no resources and we
survive to a considerable
extent on our pretense to
the outside world that
ours is atax free
area for trading and
any obvious or semi-cbvi
ous tax on certain commo
dities has a harmful ef
fect on our general tourist
and commercial position.
The routine statement
generally accompanying
tax messages that this or
that tax bill will not af
fect the economy is be
coming a stock phrase un
related to economic reali
ty.
The trend in modern,
progressive communities is
to encourage moderation
in drinking; to emphasize
use of beer and wine. The
Administration’s sugges
ted tax of 20pc on beer in
dicates a complete rever
sal of that trend of socia
lized and necessary think
ing.
The perfume situation
closely parallels the ciga
rette one. The local gov
ernment will derive more
revenue from a lower tax
on perfume and disconti
nue smuggling.
At no time business con
sidered the }{ of 1 per cent
gross receiptstax a sound
one, especially as the ques
tion has been raised about
its legality. The Chamber
is opposed to an increase of
this tax to 3 per cent. The
tax is extremely damag
ing for its sheer spiralling
: By (l'he St. Thomas
Chamber of Commerce
effect as it goes from im
porter to wholesaler to
retailer.
The proposed signal tees
should not be put into ef
fect as it will definitely act
as an irritant to shipown
ers since this service is
actually more in the inter
est of local authorities than
the ship. Besides it is only
a year agothatthe pilotage
fees were heavily increas
ed. The estimated yield
from this source hardly
warrants the antagonism
that will accrue.
Informed opinion in this
communityfeelsthe revenue
collections made under
present trade, real estate
and income tax laws will
exceed expectations and
result in a surplus for the
fiscal year.
The substantial and an
nual increase in Federal
income taxes will yield
more money which re
mains in the island. Addi
tional money is availablein
a more effective & vigorous
method of collecting trade
and income taxes from
everyone required to pay un
der the existing laws.
In presenting this drastic
tax program to the legislature
it was stated that‘‘courageous
and effective action’ is needed
in applying such taxes. Cour
ageous and effective action
should be applied nut alone to
the problems of government
and government employees but
to the over-all problems of the
entire commuanity and its com
plicated parts.
To clamp on taxes obviously
beyond this tiny island’s capa
city to pay isto do a severe
injustice directly
to the business commu
nity and indirectly to the en
tire comnmunity. Moreover the
acute problems of island busi
ness should not be treated by
the Administration as if those
problems do not exist.
continued on page 4