ustxtxb_obs_1961_01_28_50_00006-00000_000.pdf

“BOW” WILLIAMS When Your Home Policy Expires, Check With Us About Special Savings On Our Homeowners’ Policy GReenwood 2-0545 624 NORTH LAMAR, AUSTIN Let’s Abolish the Poll Tax! MARTIN ELFANT Sun Life of Canada Houston, Texas CA 4-0686 Africans View U.S. Dilemma US Racial Problem Largest Topic, Texas Student Writes More on a Theft DALLAS With protests against discriminaton evidenced by sit-ins by American Negroes, riots in Little Rock school integration, and the Mack Parker and other Southern lynchings well known to the Africans, we found that Guineans had a very unfavorable view of America. The subtler discrimination practiced in the North had deeply impressed one African whose most vivid memory on a visit to the “If I were to come to Texas, would you invite me to your home as a visitor?” an African political leader in Guinea asked author Woody Hain. Along with 180 young American students, Hain was attending a work camp sponsored by Crossroads, a privately financed organization devoted to creating closer understanding between American and African students. “The question shocked me because it had never occurred to me not to extend to him the same hospitality his people had shown me,” Hain writes. “But I also knew that this extremely intelligent and capable administrator would not get the same invitation from many others in Dallas or in the rest of the South.” United States was of a white man who turned his back to him in the next plane seat. Another told us how he had expected our racially mixed group to be fighting constantly with one another. He had even expected us to look down on him or even to hate him because he was a black man. We found this feeling common throughout the country. Many thought American Negroes were no better off than the natives in South Africa. Mississippi was considered to be typical of America, and some even thought Faubus was a leading government figure. As a result, the American Negroes in our group were put to great trouble explaining that they were Americans first and Negroes only incidentally. SEVERAL TIMES we noticed how Guineans dismissed the Tibetan trouble as an internal matter of China, but were ready to talk about American segregation, which we felt to be an internal matter of the United States. When questioned, Guineans replied that they knew little of the Tibetan problem except what the Chinese published. Bookstores throughout Guinea contain cheap, well-printed, and illustrated pamphlets and books in French published by the communists of France, China, Russia, and Eastern Europe explaining their “people’s paradises.” We saw no pro-Western propaganda, though the booksellers assured us that they were willing to buy from anywhere if they could buy within their price range. One example of communist literature which must have sold below printing cost was the complete works of Lenin in French for 500 francs, about $2. AUSTIN The railroads have found a champion in Rep. Franklin Spears of San Antonio, . who comes to ‘the 57th legislature with a plan for speeding the process of rate decisions by the Texas Railroad Commission. “The railroads feel they are getting a ibad deal more often than not,” he said. “When they apply for rate changes, the hearings are delayed months, sometimes years. “Most states now follow the ICC :plan, which is that the carrier publishes his own rates by filing with the railroad cornmission a schedule of rates and furnishing the same schedule to the shippers and other. carriers. “Then these latter have an opportunity to protest the new rates. If they protest within 30 days, the rates are automatically held up seven months. Or the commission itself can order a sevenmonth delay. “If no protest is made within the 30 days, however, the new rates go into effect automatically. And in any event the commission must make a decision one way or another within the sevenmonth delay. If the rates are denied, then one press. Differences of opinion are thrashed out quietly within the one party. Guinean are more cautious in expressing a dissenting opinion or in associating with potentially suspect persons than the most cautious Americans during the McCarthy era or the Nixon era of the 1960s in Dallas County. WITH THIS CAUTION ‘comes a somewhat hostile attitude to wards the United States, which has been a considerable handicap to those working in the US embassy or with USIA. The Guinean attitude can be explained partly by the actions of the Eisenhower administration in ignoring the status of the independent Guinean nation for two months and by not sending an ambassador for about six more months; the Eastern bloc recognized Guinea immediately. All through the country we saw the need for teachers of English and English reading materials. An American aid program operating in Guinea is sponsoring the training of English teachers. Guinea intends to become bi-lingual and has agreed to have Americans teach them. It is a marvelous opportunity for alert, well educated young people to be of service to their country. WOODY HAIN the carrier can go to court. As written now, Spears’ bill only covers the railroads. He says he would have no objection to broadening it to cover all carriers and he may do so later, after he gets a drift of the kind of objections he will run into. One objection he anticipates is the fear that the railreads would deluge the commission under so many new rate schedules that it would be impossible to have hearings on all of them in a sevenmonth period, which would allow the untouched to take effect automatically. Spears says this hasn’t happened with the ICC nor, so far as his study shows, in states which have adopted the ICC plan. “Actually, this procesS I propose would save the commission time,” he said. “As it is now, all rates schedules get a hearing. But for 90 per cent of the schedules no protest is filed, and under my plan if no protest is filed, no hearing is necessary. So under this plan, there would be 90 per cent fewer hearings.” Spears said he was motivated by San Antonio’s poor position in regard to shipping rates on some key commodities. He admitted also a dislike for trucker tactics. “The truckers came up here last time to get a raise in the load limit from 58,000 to 72,000 pounds,” he said, “and I’m told I haven’t checked it, but I will I’m told that the highway budget now includes .$5,000,000 for strengthening bridges hurt by this new load limit. “I’m tired of seeing the truckers push the legislature around,” It o “l; d . THE TEXAS OBSERVER Page 6 Jan. 28, 1961 AUSTIN We understand, on good authority, that the Anglo-American boy who was suspended from the University of Texas for stealing rare books is already enrolled again in the University. We wish him well. But his presence at the University does make more pointed the harsher treatment being meted out to the Latin-American boy accused of the same crime: stealing books. Criminal theft charges still hang over him, and now we learn that his last month’ paycheck is also being held up. He was a part-time employee of the library, you remember. What does the held-up paycheck amount to? Oh, probably $30 or $40. He hasn’t been convicted, and he did work for the money. This smacks just a bit of punishment without trial. Since the University has seen fit to throw this case into court, we should think it would leave the matter of punishment up to the court. But then we seldom follow the reasoning of ‘university administrators who, couching their lives in “the best that has been thought and said in the world” \(the only quote of from Olympian levels judgments effecting the lives of us mortals. We listen with humility to what they have to say about the case. Humbly we listen, fdr example, to Alexander Moffett, UT librarian and the man who admits to having ordered the “hold” on the pay. CAYS MOFFETT: “I have the that he is being persecuted. But this is just standard procedure for anyone accused of the theft of state property. “After all, he has not made full restitution to the university. We don’t want his money if he can clear thig all up. When all the books are back, he’ll get his money. No, I don’t know how many books are out.” This is the type of reasoning that we cheerfully admit an inability to follow. The boy will get his money when all the books are rounded up from various dealers, but they dont know how many books are out. If they don’t know how many are out, how will they know when all are in? We give up. HARRY. RANSOM, president of UT, made this written comment to the Observer’s recent \(Jan. about the comparative treatment of the two book thefts: “I think that your account of book theft at the University omitted the following facts and circumstances: “1.University offices follow a distinction which I think you will find is common among most institution’s and legal agencies: a difference is made between a minor and a man over 21._ There was such a difference in the two cases you cite. “2.When a violation occurs in the course of a student’s conduct of his academic affairs, the case is regularly referred to the discipline committee, as was the first case you mention. When an employee of the Universitywhether a student or notviolates a law or regulation, the employee’s office at the University takes first action in the case. “3.It is the long-standing rule at the University to refer violation of laws having to do with state responsibility to the Texas De The World in Headlines partment of Public Safety, which is the legal agency responsible for this area. The second case which you mention was therefore referred to the Texas Department of Public Safety. “4. I think that the two cases which you mention would have been handled as they were under any circumstances; but as a matter of fact, the Regents in the December meeting in El Paso \(in connection with an incident at another branch of the University, clear that they wished to confirm the principle that any employee of the University who violates a state trust should be subject to the regular legal actions which follow upon referal of the case to the Texas Department of Pub ic Safety. “This principle, and the December action of the Regents, are being made the subject of a very clear announcement in the Main University newsletter. I think that this confirmation of a long-standing policy tin December may be the source of your impression that there is a ‘new policy’ at the Universty.” B.S. Dugger Gets Note From JFK AUSTIN Gary McGregor Dugger, an eight-year-old citizen of Austin, Texas, has received a letter from President Kennedy. Master Dugger wrote Mr. Kennedy congratulating him upon his election and expressing hope he will be re-elected. On U.S. Senate letterhead, Master Dugger received this letter from Washington: “Dear Gary: “I want to thank you for the very friendly message you sent to me after my election to the presidency. “I am most heartened by the many expressions of good will which I have received. I am sure that they reflect a broad unity of purpose in our nation. I hope that my record during the next four years will sustain your generous confidence. “With every good wish, I am, “Sincerely, John F. Kennedy.” At a press conference covered by his father, Master Dugger said he intends to take the letter to school to let his associates know who runs his classroom. “Most of the kids in my class were for Nixon,” he told Kennedy, “but I was for you. The kids who were for you liked to say, ‘Kennedy Kennedy is our man, Nixon belongs in the garbage cn,’ and ‘Kennedy’s in the White House waiting to be elected, Nixon’s in the garbage can waiting to be collected.’ ” The lake is down, and so the creek is down softly flowing blue in the wind ing undertake channel. I walked along the dry bed a while this noon, seeing the hills as the fish might, and the boulders sink ing down the bank toward me, and a tail disappearing in a coon sized cave. The bottom of the lake is smooth and clean, the few scat tered tires and bottles more nter esting than littering, and the moss that ‘flattened over everything end shrouded the stumps as the water left is soft and giving underfoot.