ustxtxb_obs_1962_01_05_50_00003-00000_000.pdf

Page 3

by

WANTS ACROSS-THE-BOARD `Abominable Sales Tax’ Deadlock Ends ‘It Stinks’ Trial wouldn’t have had much showing. I don’t think he would today either, although because of Rockefeller’s economies in New York a surplus three years, a tax rebate nowsome are trying to push him as being more conservative than some had previously thought.” What remains to be done before you can really say that Texas is a two-party state? Smith: “We’ve come a long way toward that. Our objective of course is to put a substantial number of Republicans in the legislature. I’d say that the ultimate criterion is electing a Republican on the statewide level, and we’ve done that.” \(Referring now to the defeat of the Republican candidate in the race for Rayburn’s place, and the survival of the Republican candidate for the rundidate hadwon at Bonham, it would have been a miracle. The fact that the Republican Party is now running where they wouldn’t have much chance is symptomatic of the new spirit. At Wichita Falls –a year ago people wouldn’t have thought our man would have been in the runoff. “There won’t be any dramatic event. at which we can point and say, we’re over the hump. But I think we’ll surprise people with ‘Jack \(‘ox, and that would be dramatic, just as the Tower victory was. I think we’re going to elect a minimum of ten Republicans to the House, and at least one senator, perhaps more. While this isn’t approaching a majority, these Republicans will have a disproportionate influence. “I’d say the criterion for calling this a two-party state is when we elect Republicans regularly to the House and Senate.” Stubborn Big Shots What are you doing to overcome the fact that many people who belong in the Republican Partybig shots in the Democratic Party won’t move over .because they would lose their power and patronage? Smith : “The people who will lose power will be the last to come over..The guy who can pick up the telephone and call Price he wouldn’t have that power any more, and to some people this power is more important than principle. “But on the local level, people %ho had been voting Democratic but were Republican were not people of power or influence. “We ran a surveyit may have not been as scientific as some polls, but we interviewed thousands and thousands of people across the stateand we found that 20 to 30 percent are Republican, slightly under 50 percent are Democratic, slightly under 50 percent say they are independent. Does that add up to 100? Anyway, it was something in that vicinity. And of the Democrats, 10 to 15 percent said they are conservatives. “It’s clear that the bulk of conservative support comes from people who call themselves independents, and they call themselves independents because in a one-party state they don’t want to call themselves Democrats.” H. L. Hunt of “Lifeline” renown is reputedly one of Goldwater’s biggest financial backers. Is he also one of the Texas GOP’s major donors? Who else is a major donor? Smith: “I didn’t know he was a supporter of Goldwater. So far as I -knbw, he Isn’t a big contributor to our support. But if we were given a substantial amount, I wouldn’t know about it. Party finances aren’t my area. But I do know we are trying to explode the rich Republican myth. “So far as I know, we don’t get any large contributions from out of state. It used to be that the national Republican Party expected Texas to hand over all we got. Now we have so many local commitments we can’t give much to the national group, and they can’t understand it. They think, those rich Texans. You know.” Explains ‘New’ Recently we have noticed an increase in the amount of advertising you have been doing, including ads in such publications as the American Weekly, and we notice you always stress the word “new” in describing the Texas Republican Party. What’s “new” about *it? Smith: “We’re new in several ways. For one thing, we are a young party. Literally. Our leadership is marked by youth. I don’t want to leave out the young old people, of course, and there are many fine old young middle-aged people I don’t want to leave out. But youth is our trademark. Just name the county chairmen across the state and you’ll find them in their 30s and early 40s.” \(LaughTexas there’s a county chairman who is 17, I understand.” \(Fay agreed with Smith on this point. He told the. Observer, “I’m 48. That makes me one of the youngest members of the national committee, but down here in our Smith continued, “You can debate the question of whether young people are getting more conservative, but I think they are. Young people are moving into the party in a real surge. “Another reason I call the Texas Republican Party new is that it really had its birth in Texas in 1931 with the law requir:ng that the location of precinct meetings had to be published 10 days prior to the meeting. A lot of shenanigans went on in the precincts with people in control who did not want to let the party change. An hour before the meeting they would change the location. It was really rank. “Then in 1952, new people came into the precinct meetings. I was 24 then. We had 65 or 70 people in my precinct meeting. I helped turn them out. It was a new age. I don’t mean to cast aspersions on the people who tried to build the party before that time. “Thirdly, I call it a new party because there is a clear cut conservative orientation such as we’ve never had before.” Call to Task ‘How would the Republican Party operate, if it gained power, any differently from what the conservative Democrats are doing now? Smith: “Despite what they say, there is not now a cohesive minority group calling the administration to task. When we become a working minority, we will see that the majority is called upon to explain every step it takes. We will demand a functioning audit of the majority action. Scandals will be less likely because they will be more quickly exposed.” He denied that the liberal Democrats in office call the state administration to task. “If we had a Republican as governor, we would do something to correct the monstrous financial situation we now have, with money in a number of different funds. We need a Hoover-type commission to show how to eliminate waste in government.” \(He said he didn’t know that state Senator Bill Patman, a liberal, had introduced a little-Hoover commission bill last session in the Senate, only to be slapped down by the conTexas Research League, a group supported by business and industry, has shown how to make some wise corrections in the amount spent for such items as welfare and fish-and-game administration, but it wasn’t enough. He also said a Republican administration would “clean up the abominable sales tax” by killing all exemptions and making it across-the-board. Asked if he didn’t think the sales tax hit the little man hardest, proportionately, Smith responded: “Well, if you’re talking about the difference between slight and slighter, I suppose it does.” Asked what the Republican Party leaders were doing to present a softer image of themselves, Smith answered: “If we have an unfriendly image, it is because we have not made clear enough what the consequences of the conservative program would be. “The liberals have done a marvelous job of selling themselves as the champion of the little guy. This is a myth. “Eighty-four percent of all revenue the federal government gets from the personal income tax comes from the 20-percent bracket the little guy. And there are no plans for additional government funds, except from the little guy. If they confiscated all the personal income over $6,000, they wouldn’t have enough to pay the interest on the national debt. “We’re not worried about people in the 90-percent bracket starving to death, but if this keeps up. the janitors and barbers, well….” Africa and Alabama Would he favor cutting welfare expenditures in Texas? Said Smith: “We favor less spending, but more help for those who need it. There are people on the welfare rolls who must be there. But when we try to find out if the needy are really needy, the liberals yell ‘pauper’s oath.’ So instead of asking 2,003 or 20,000 really needy to prove their need so we can give them real help, we hand out a buck to each of a million people. We don’t believe in a buck apiece for a million people.” Again he quoted the Texas Research League in support of his position. Would he call the present state administration conservative? Smith: “Oh, I don’t know that I’d want to use that word on people who supported the JohnsonKennedy ticket. Of course, they may be more conservative than the Observer. . . .” Does the Republican Party plan to have a full slate for the next state election? “A comparatively full slate, yes. Certainly we plan to run a Republican for all policymaking offices.” Does the Republican Party offer any special appeal to the Negro vote or the Latin American vote? Does it favor integration? Smith: “I don’t favor a special racial appeal. I don’t remember whether the state Republican platform has an integration plank or not. I don’t think it does. “The people of Australia are slow to integrate the aborigines and the people of Africa are slow to integrate the headhunters. But that doesn’t mean there’s a racial reason for it.” He drew a parallel between Australia, Africa. and Alabama. Smith holds an LLB from the University of Texas law school, where he graduated summa cum laude. He was a member of the Chancellor Society and was case note editor on the Texas Law Review. In 1960 he was voted outstanding Young Man of the year by 15 El Paso service clubs. From Houston Correspondents SAN JACINTO It was the biggest audience that ever packed into the corporation court of Judge Lorne Park, former used car salesman. More than 300 people came to hear the case against Jesse Woods, charged with disturbing the peace at the San Jacinto City. Baptist Church when he got up and left a lecture and showing of the film “Communism on the Map” with the remark that “it stinks.” Woods, chairman of the Northshore Area Democrats Club and former chairman of the Northshore Kennedy-Johnson headquarters, argued in defense that the meeting did not constitute religious worship but was simply a political rally. Woods’ exit had interrupted the speaker, Dick Kerr, a former member of the John Birch Society, who was showing the Birch-prepared film to the church audience with side remarks of his own. Woods claimed these side remarks included calling Presidents Roosevelt, Truman, and Kennedy communists. Trial spectators were neatly partisan, a group of liberals forming a. rooting section for Woods. Anether group came to aid Rev. 0. Van Moreau, minister of the church and the person who pressed the charges against Woods most vigorously. Some of the pro Moreau group came carrying their Bibles and often said “amen” to the minister’s testimony. Sometimes they bowed their heads in prayer. One night a group knelt in prayer on the grass in front of the courthouse. In the hall where the witnesses stayed some read their Bibles and two knelt by their chairs for prayer. Lawyer Joe Reynolds, Houston school board attorney, was there to protect Rev. Moreau’s interest because Reynolds will defend the minister in the suit filed by Woods against Rev. Moreau for false arrest and slander. Many came just to see this city’s biggest event. Trained by God While most of the witnesses accused Woods only of saying “it stinks”and Woods himself admitted saying so Rev. Moreau, who first took the stand, testified that Woods said, “I’m.getting out of this goddamned place.” Rev. Moreau was also the only witness to say that Woods was smoking and had been drinking. Defense Attorney Alvin Rosenthal asked Rev. Moreau if he had had any formal training for the ministry. This question came after previous interrogation had established that Rev. Moreau’s career had evolved through periods as a high school student. Rev. Moreau replied that he had been trained by “the word of God” and ordained by a group of men from his church. At this point some of the Bible carriers said “Amen.” Many times during the two and a half hours he spent on the stand, Rev. Moreau was asked what Kerr had said in his talk and what the movie was about. THE TEXAS OBSERVER Page 3 Jan. 5, 1962 Most of the time he answered, “I don’t know, I don’t remember.” At one point a lady turned to the Observer reported and asked, “I wonder what he does know.” A tall young man standing behind overheard, tapped the lady and the reporter on the shoulder, and said, “He knows Jesus. Do you?” He had a red Bible in his hand. Rev. Moreau kept saying he hadn’t heard Kerr because he had been too busy praying. The next prosecution witness, John Noel, said he hadn’t heard much of what went on either because he also had been praying. But he did remember that after Woods got up and judged the speech a stinker and left, seven or eight church-men followed him outside, along with Rev. Moreau, and held Woods in a citizens’ arrest. Judge Steps In When Defense Attorney Rosenthal cross-examined another state witness, R. P. Bartlett, and despite repeated questions couldn’t get the yes-or-no answer he wanted, Judge Park stopped Rosenthal and said Bartlett had been a friend of his for 18 years and was hard of hearing and that the lawyer had asked his question enough. Defense witness Ray McClellan said he went to the meeting because he had heard It advertised on the radio, but that he hadn’t. heard God’s name mentioned during the meeting. \(The defendant later testified that he had also attended the speech because he had heard it advertised over the radio as a talk on communism, and the manager of the radio station veri