100 ADDRESSES AND STATE PAPERS

say that there are no celebrations in the Agnew household the day
our tax bill arrives in the morning mail.

I guess we're never going to stop grumbling over taxes, but maybe
we can see that our grumbling is not always justified. I'm not saying
that all taxes are good — or that all taxes are fair — or that there
cannot be inefficiency or waste in the operation of the tax system.
If I may, I'd like to put into proper perspective this thought of
"waste. " One of the easiest ways to attack a system of governmental
taxation is to say that most of the money collected from the taxpayers
is wasted and that it rarely finds its way back to the citizens in the
form of services.

I cannot in all honesty tell you that there is no waste in government

or that the government of Maryland, which expends over $900
million a year, can eliminate every dollar of waste. But please note
this fact. If such a government were to waste one thousand dollars a
year, the percentage of inefficiency would be the same as that of an
individual who earns nine thousand dollars a year and wastes one
penny. Now, how many of us can say we did not waste a penny or
two all of last year?

What we can do is strive not to waste any pennies, and I promise
you this administration will pursue a course of maximum efficiency.
The waste factor must not be blown out of all proportion, however,
in order to defeat any meaningful and beneficial tax legislation. Waste
is wrong and we will fight it; but in its greatest extreme it represents
only a tiny fraction of the amount that flows through government.

We do not have to go very far to find one of the greatest examples
of the public attitude toward taxes. Just think for a moment about
the amount of criticism you heard about the Cooper-Hughes proposal
when it was before last year's session of the Legislature. It was about
everything you heard. Then, when the measure failed to pass, think
for a moment about the criticism you heard of the Legislature for not
passing Cooper-Hughes. That was about everything you heard at that
time including, I remind you, a lament from every major candidate
for governor. It just proves the point, that taxes are hard to swallow
when they are the most imminent. It's when we can sit back and ap-
praise them in the long run that we find whether they are justified or
not.

But tonight we're not talking about Cooper-Hughes. We're talking
about the administration's tax proposal as it's now been amended by