ustxtxb_obs_1956_11_14_50_00001-00000_000.pdf

The one great rule of composition is to speak the truth. Thoreau Ohntrurr Liberal Weekly Newspaper We will serve no ‘Troup or party b” will hew hard to the truth as we find it and the right as we see it. Vol. 48 TEXAS, NOVEMBER 14, 1956 10c per copy No. 30 City Vote Tells the Story Angry Letter HOUSTON The big city results in the Eisenhower Stevenson rematch can be fairly well understood from a precinct-byprecinct analysis of the Houston trends. Houston, like Chicago and New York City, went to Eisenhower. In 1952 Eisenhower carried Harris County 143,426 to 117,783. This year he carried it 153,226 to 93,246. Thus a Republican gain of 10,000 was accompanied by a Democratic loss of 20,000. In Houston as in some of the other cities the Democrats’ two principal problems were apathy in the labor precincts and apathy and defections in the Negro precincts. “Again and again our people said to me. ‘What’s the use, after all that’s happened to us?’ ” Mrs. R. D. Randolph, Democratic national commit tee woman and Houston Democratic leader, told the Observer. She said the Fort Worth convention, at which Houston liberals were denied convention seats, was the grievance rankling most. Stevenson carried the Negro precincts again, but his vote was cut in half in many of them, while the Eisenhower vote increased from almost nothing to a substantial fraction. Republicans concentrated on the Negro vote in Houston, arguing, “A vote for Stevenson is a vote for Eastland.” The liberals’ reply here was, “But a vote for Eisenhower is a vote for Shivers.” Even as the Democrats were losing ground in their traditional bailiwicks, they were gaining, comparatively, in the silk stocking precincts. And there were interesting developments in suburbia. In Galena. Park precinct 81, mostly working people, Stevenson won this year 535-485; but in 1952, not only was his margin of 1,503-1,171 wider, it was based on a much larger total vote. In another labor precinct, 163 at Jacinto City, Stevenson’s 1,276-775 lead of 1952 was cut to 906-535 this year, reflecting some apathy on both sides. In the Negro precincts, the pattern was almost unvaried. In 47, Stevenson’s 1952 lead of 1,551-72 dropped to 480-333. In 48, a somewhat more typical precinct, his 1952 lead of 1,905-71 dropped to 472-150. Again, in 161, Eisenhower’s vote went from 22 to 307, while Stevenson’s dropped from 1,136 to 581. In 158, a Stevenson landslide of 488-9 in .1952 became an exceedingly narrow squeak of 217-214 for the Democrats this year. In the largest Negro box, SunCounty Democratic workers concentrated much work, Stevenson held his 1,769 total of 1952 to 1,649 this yearbut Eisenhower’s vote increased from 189 to 639. In 157, Stevenson’s lead dropped from 867-22 to 610-254. In 169, it dropped from 1,045-45 to 822-245. boxes, the Democrats made progress. In. 38, for example, an Eisenhower victory of 2,253-550 was reduced to 1,101-331 this year. In. 60, an Eisenhower margin of 1,863-386 dropped about 300. In 135, the Republicans lost ground againbeating Stevenson 1,393-76 instead of 2,081-129 as In 1952. Two suburban precincts-116, outside the city limits, and 179, just inside the cityturned in perplexing results. Eisenhower carried 116 in 1952, 1,060-530; this year he won it, 4,273-1,129. In 179, his 1952 margin of 1,269-514 was blown up to 3,555-1,065 this year. But note how the total vote is up on both sides and the Democratic vote doubled, even as the Eisenhower vote tripled and quadrupled. President Eisenhower polled 1,075,954 votes, 55.3 percent of the total cast in Texas, compared to 1,102,878 for 53.2 percent . of the total in 1952. Stevenson registered 854,827 votes compared to 969,228 in 1952. In Texas as in many other states. the victory was viewed as evidence of Ike’s personal popularity. President Eisenhower was able only to carry one Republican congressman from Texas into office, incumbent Rep. Bruce Alger of Dallas. Alger beat District Attorney Henry Wade 102,288 to’ 81,696 as Dallas County was once HOUSTON A clerk, two maintenance men, a tool company inspector, a fireman, a printer, three truck drivers, an oil field supply foreman, an oil operator, a Negro cook these men will decide whether George B. Parr will continue as a political king or become again a federal convict. In a courtroom 350 miles from the empire where he is known as the Duke of Duval, Parr daily faces this jury of twelve men whose votes he may win but cannot control. The small, florid-faced political czar and eight of his friends are on trial under a 20-count indictment Charging them with conspiracy in using the mails to defraud the Benavides school district of $173,000. Parr sits next to his battery of attorneys which is headed by famed Houston criminal lawyer Just more than half of the books of individuals. Another two-fifths is paid the individual taxpayer in hi precision. The property tax brings in only one-twentieth of the revenue, although it was a major source of income in the days when farming the land was the chief work of the people. Even though total net farm income in Texas was more than $700 million in 1955, the few fees collected in the agricultural area of the economy accounted for only one-thousandth of the revenue. The Legislature, still dominated by politicians from rural districts, exempts farmers from specific taxes for the support of the government. more spotlighted as a Republican and conservative Democrat stronghold of the state with a 125,280 to 65,533 vote endorsement of Eisenhower. Otherwise the Republicans met with little success in Texas. Constable Ike Is Reelected, Too GALVESTON Constable Ike Franks of Galveston County precinct 4, re-elected on a Democratic ticket, wasn’t available to make his acceptance speech even though he beat his writein opponent 638 to 274. Franks, a seven-term incumbent, is on leave from his job while serving a three month federal prison term for violation of the game laws by selling wild ducks. He’s scheduled for release in time to take the oath of office in January. Percy Foreman. In a semicircle half the width of the courtroom are the other . defendants: Oscar Carillo, Sr., former secretary of the school board; 0. P. Carillo, former attorney for the school district; Jesus Olivera, former board member of the Texas State Bank at Alice; Octavio Saenz, past president of the school Bob Bray board; Jesus G. Garza and Santiago Garcia, both former members of the school board; B. F. Donald, Jr., former cashier of the Texas State Bank in Alice, and D. C. Chapa, former school tax collector. “The government,” said U. S. District Attorney Malcolm Wilkey, “is going to show how a kingdom was and how it was used by one man to perpetuate himself.” Answered defense attorney These conclusions are based on the Observer’s analysis of fiscal and fees and permits \($17,446,cluded. The state is also landlord, businessman., farmer, manufacturer, retailer, publisher, even huckster. It operates cafes, publishes magazines that take advertising, sells its land and leases its mineral rights, rents out buildings and equipment, and sells farm, dairy and garden products, manufactured products, books, pamphlets, Foreman: “Mr. Parr has been charged , with using the mails to defraud. That is the case we are defending him against and nothing else.” The government subpoenaed more than 100 witnesses. The first called to the stand was T. J. O’Connor, business manager of the Texas Education Agency. He testified concerning a prosecution exhibit listing more than 200 individuals and firms which had received funds from the Benavides school district. Parr listened without changing expression as U. S. AssistantDistrict Attorney Edgar 0. Bottler spent 12 minutes reading to the jury a list of checks varying from $155.68 to $877.53 reportedly paid by the school district for construction work. The government contends that the checks were made out to fictitious persons and firms and used by the de AUSTIN fees comes from the pocket of this, too, is passed on to cannot be measured with maps, machinery, and equipment. In fiscal 1956, for instance, Texas received $80 million from land sales, rentals, and royalties; $5 million from the sale of commodities and properties; $1 million in court costs, fines, and suit settlements; $20 million in interest and penalties; and $3 million from miscellaneous sources. The state also accepted $172 million in federal aid, and the counties and cities sent another $2 million to Austin. Including $122 million in various non-revenue receipts with the total revenue of $913 million, the state had Scorches Brass Johnson, Rayburn Hit By Houston Liberal HOUSTON A letter apparently intended to explode Lyndon Johnson out of the political current has been written by Dean Johnston her e and mailed to all members to the Democratic National Committee. He also plans to send it to the Democratic senators. “I do not believe that Senator Lyndon Johnson wants Stvenson to .be elected President of the United States,” Johnston wrote in a letter dated Nov. 5. “I believe Johnson’s motives …. are simple and selfish. He wants the nomination himself in 1960.’ Johnston has been president of the loyalist Young Democratic Clubs of Texas twice and is at present secretary of the Harris County Democratic executive committee. He lost as the loyalist candidate in the recent election for county Democratic chairman. His letter also takes Speaker Sam Rayburn to task. Rayburn, he says, has joined Johnson in the desire to control the party in Texas. “Rayburn’s motives are apparently different, but equally selfish,” the letter says. Rayburn is “in essential agreement with the right-wing philosophy which Johnson serves in Texas,” Johnston says, but he adds he suspects “his main motive” is “that he fears that his, the smallest congressional district in the United States, will be redistricted into an area in which he might have a difficult time’ being re-elected.” Johnston says Rayburn. has been cautious in taking ‘ stands on Texas elections because of this and “lined up with Eisenhower Democrat Price Daniel against the loyal Democrats simply because Daniel is the nominee for governor” with this in mind. JOHNSTON’S LETTER tots off these grievances against Johnson: “He has made an alliance for party control in Texas with the mainstays of the 1952 defection to total receipts last year of $1,035,836,238.24. THE MAJOR ITEMS paid by individuals are the selective sales taxes on highway fuels, motor vehicles, cigarettes, alcoholic beverages, radios, cosmetics, playing cards, together accounting for $253 million, 40.1 percent of the overall total; the inheritance tax, $8 million in 1956;, fees for the registration and matriculation of students, $5 million; the poll tax, $3 million; and non-commercial hunting and fishing fees, almost $2 million. In fiscal ’56, these assessments against individuals came to $326,418,708.01, which was 51.7 percent of the total from taxes, licenses, fees, and permits. The taxes on highway fuels and motor vehicles alone accounted for $232 million, 36.8 percent. \(Continued on Lindley Beckworth of GladeThomas of Houston \(eighth disRutherford of Odessa \(16th disall of whom had Republican opposition, won their races easily. Democrats won a clean sweep in state legislative races. Henry B. Gonzales of San Antonio, Wilson Foreman of Austin, Jean Hosey of Galveston, Bill Elliott, Robert W. Baker, J. Ed Winfree, and Chris Cole, all of Houston, and Hubert Hudson of Brownsville, defeated Republican oppo-1 sition generally by wide margins. Price Daniel stacked up the expected lopsided win for governor, collecting 1,369,962 votes to 264,629 for GOP candidate William O’Daniel managed to do with his write-in campaign was to gum up! the voting machines. County Judge Lew Sterett of Dallas complained that O’Daniel had advised his backers to first write-in his THE PEOPLE VS. GEORGE PARR state’s income from taxes and