ustxtxb_obs_1955_10_05_50_00002-00000_000.pdf

.;r Let those flatter who fear, it is not an American art. JEFFERSON He Gone Yet?’ Altai af4ite .–My th–Staiti It was good to hear Adlai Stevenson trim down some of the favorite myths of American . hucksters last week. He said we have never had pure free enterprise, and as of now we have a thoroug -hly mixed economy of private and public enterprise. New inventions and deVices of production and distribution have been the major source of our abundance, he said, although, of course, risk-taking has played .a part too. .We thought his insistence that our motive for helping other peoples should be our -common humanity instead of our own national interest a refreshing departure from the Senator .Price Daniel, generally a fairly harmless fellow, has decided to hold narcotics hearings in every major city in Texas this month. Although there are 48 states, it should not surprise us that Daniel has selected the one in which he may soon seek the governorship for his most intensive inquiries. No doubt the habitual political posture of callous ness toward the woes of “foreigners.” ‘ We regretted, however, that he did not discuss the problem of what a political democracy should do about the “natural monopoly,” the. industrial area \(as in telephone and technically inefficient and a corporate monopoly with great power to gouge the public has developed. We try to regulate such monopolies and usually find they take over the regulatory agency. If public ownership is logical for a natural monopoly like the post office, why isn’t it logical for telephones ? press play will be duly dramatic, and Daniel will emerge as the champion dope-crusader of ’em all. We will all rest easier at night, knowing that our wayward children are safe from the snares of the petal-pushers. And the good junior senator will continue his square-jawed gallop toward a better worruld. t l -_9n q uirie3 5irot 5.ith Fewer than one in three Texans old enough to vote do. The poll tax keeps many from voting, but the only way to abolish the poll tax is to i pay it. Population studies show that half the voters in Texas are now in the 20 biggest cities, and that it is in the cities that the average man most often: fails to vote. It is a first faith of democracy that the more people vote, the closer the outcome to their general wel-, fare. We hail the early get-out-thevote campaigns in the big cities. Legislative Conference sold 150 poll It is a dull, undramatic, one-by-one task, but it is a necessary’Step in the return of the government of Texas to the people. Last week James Hart. backed out of a speech to a group of Hitris County Democrats -in Houston when he Jearned it was to be given in a union hall of the communications workers, who are affiliated with the C.I.O. This amounts to permitting the possibility of an ilioglcal criticism to dictate one’s decision ‘about where to speak. No one wants a union-controlled candidate, just as no one wants a business-controlled candidate, but neither does it make sense to say that because a man October 5, 1955 Incorporating The State Observer, combined with The East Texas Democrat Ronnie Dugger, Editor and General Manager Bill Brammer, Associate Editor Sarah Payne, Office Manager Published once a week from Austin, Texas. Delivered postage prepaid $4 per annum. Advertising rates available on request. Extra copies 10c each. Quantity orders available. Entered as second-class matter April 26, 1937, at the Post /Office at Austin, Texas, under the act of March 3. 1879. We will serve no group or party but will hew hard to the truth as we find it and the right as we see it. We are dedicated to the whole truth, to human values above all interests, to the rights of man as the .foundation of democracy; we will take orders from none but our own conscience, and never will we overlook or misrepresent the truth to serve the interests of the powerful or eater to the ignoble in the human speaks in a union ball, he is unioncontrolled. A union hall is as good a forum as a manufacturers’ convention or a lawyers’ assembly. This incident is an affront to the dignity of organized labor, which we feel sure Hart did not intend ; but we believe he should reconsider his decision in that light. 5he “All progress has come from new and shocking ideas.” So says Dr. Willis Tate, president of in announcing that his institution will run the risks of the crackpot, the rash statement, and the unprincipled critic for the sake of educational freedom. He said S.M.U. will keep books on communism in its library and let groups hold open meetings on the campus. We are. glad Dr. Tate feels this way. It is, however, a shame _that one of the state’s private institutions should have to take the lead in this matter. How the teachers would rejoice could, one believe that such freedom, existed in our state universities !. Why, the student newspapers are under heavy cloaks of censorship in every state institution but one, and thereat the University of Texasthe withdrawal of a speaking invitation to Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt because she was “too liberal” still lingers as a recent demonstration of regential coercion. How free does a professor feel after such an incident ? Staff Correspondents; Bob Bray, Galveston; .Anne Chambers, Corpus Christi; Ramon Garces, Laredo ; Clyde Johnson, Corsicana ; Mike Mistovich, Bryan ; Jack Morgan, Port Arthur ; and reporters in Dallas, Houston, Beaumont, El Paso, Crystal City, and Big Spring. Staff Contributors: Leonard Burress, Deep East Texas; Minnie Fisher Cunningham, New Waverley, Bruce Cutler, Austin ; Edwin Sue Goroe, Burnet; John Igo, ‘San Antonio; Franklin Jones, Marshall ; George Jones, Washington, D.C.; J. Henry Martindale, Lockhart; Dan Strawn, Kenedy ; Jack Summerfield, Austin ; and others. Staff cartoonist : Don Bartlett, Austin. Cartoonists : Neil Caldwell, Austin ; Bob Eckhardt, Houston ; Etta Hulme, Austin. MAILING ADDRESS: Drawer F, Capitol Station, Austin, Texas. EDITORIAL AND BUSINESS OFFICE: 604 West 24th St., Austin, Texas. Phone 7-0746. HOUSTON OFFICE: 2501 Crawford St., Houston, Texas \(Mrs. R. D. Randolph, director, subscription drive; Richard Kennedy, field Bartlett Appears Exclusively in The Texas AUSTIN. At bull sessions, at rallies, at “I “Am a Democrat” plays, ‘voters over the state are taking the politicians at their hints and inviting them to speak: The next eight months could be exceptional in Texas history ; for once, Texas has a chance to get serious attention for its Own problems from the politicians instead of the buggyboos and general promises they have ladled up for lo these many years. What are the real issues for Texas ?.. What should the candidates be asked? Many things, of course. But here are ten areas that seem to be important: 1.New taxes. Does the candidate realize that our growing state population and their needs call lor more taxes? If so, does he hedge about repeal of the specific sales taxes we now have ? Is he willing to pass new natural resources taxes, a new corporate income tax, or some other tax that ‘ does not bear directly on the consumer ? Will he cry “waste” to camouflage his determination to fight new taxes? 2.Lobbyists. Is he willing to be specific about his plans to destroy the power of the corporate lobby that controls Austin? 1 Segregation. Will he be demagoging around EastTexas against school integration, or will he stand for compliance with the supreme law of the land ? Will he at least grant ‘that integration is not the governor’s problem? 4.Labor. How does he stand on making the Taft-Hartley labor law’s provisions on the right to collective bargaining apply to workers in intrastate commerce, as they now apply to workers in interstate commerce? 5.Water. Every candidate will favor “a water program,” but it is deceptiOn to call water our “number one problem” and then fail to state how one would finance a water program \(general revenue, a property tax, or a willing to accept federal aid, as per Senator Lyndon Johnson’s Bureau of Observer Reclamation plan? Would he favor coupling a water program with public Tower developments ? 6.Education. Is the candidate opposed to federal aid to education? If so, how does he propose to pay for desperately needed new schools and higher teacher& salaries ? 7.Slum clearance. Does the candidate know about the slums in the major cities of .Texas? Will he favor passage of the thrice-killed state legislation permitting_ Texas cities, at their, own option, to participate in the TaftEllender urban renewal \(slum clearlandlords or the slum tenants? . 8. Charity hospitals. Does the candidate favor more state hospitals for the poor citizens of Texas who cannot pay, the stiff bills of the medical profession? 9.Eleemosynary institutions. Will the candidate fight for more money for our state mental institutions ? 10.Party loyalty. Does the candidate believe that party leaders should support party nominees or .resign as party leaders ? Politicians are agile contrivers of strawmen like “the Red Tide from Moscow, roaring onto our Gulf Coast,” or “waste in_AuStin,”. or “how Gramma got 30 cents too much pension every month for 117 years,” or, “vote for me, maybe I shined your shoes when I was a boy.” But the question for the people isdoes this fellow talk about waste, and I’m-aright-guy, and no more taxes for poor old stoop-shoulders Texas industry or about human needs, and a growing state with an exciting future, and more of the good things of life for more Texans ? We are all ready for a change, and that is all the more reason to be alert for the politiCal smokescreen. The state scandals are bad now, .and they sin be another’s virtue. The people deserve better than that. R.D. gip Warns Mimi/no Ten Texas Issues