ustxtxb_obs_1962_01_26_50_00004-00000_000.pdf

Thoughts on Labor, Latins ‘A LITTLE NEGATIVE’, Viewing 5he Cancidatei The Man Did Speak AUSTIN It was immensely refreshing this week to hear Don Yarborough’s ideas on state government. His approach is fresh, imaginative, and direct. He has done his homework well. He is tough and full of energy. In the last two years he has matured tremendously. We like the ring of some of his words : “The governor should search deeply into the instincts of the people.” . . . “Our natural wealth has misled us into not moving forward.” . . . “The trouble with Texas is, we’re not modern.” . . . “I have nothing but praise for the magnificent one-third of the legislature that has been fighting for the people.” There can be little mistaking where this young man’s sympathies lie. The pleasant surprise is the extent of his understanding on a whole range of state issues. “The New Frontier seems like it’s seeped down into the provinces,” one reporter commented after Yarborough’s press conference ; Kennedy’s great and stirring theme of 1960 has had a lasting effect on a whole generation of young politicians throughout America. Whether the urge to “move again,” the attempt to tap real or alleged “restlessness” and “concern” has meaning in this province is one of those questions to be answered this spring. But we are pleased to note that, just as a conservative governor chose to evoke the memory of Jim Hogg and Jimmie Allred in his combat with the business lobby last year, so also has a young politician seeking now to focus a theme for a hard campaign. The underdog always has his appeal, no less so when he is about to take on a man who represents, and is sent forth by, that vast conglomeration of financial poweroil, gas, insurance, utility, bankingin a state where it has been noted worldwide for its misuse of that power. Is it at all idle to remember the old-time progressives, provincial boys with dust on their shoes no less than restless souls in the older bourgeoisie, challenging Wall Street, the trusts, and After this week’s session of the legislative textbook investigating committee, Dr. J. W. Edgar, state cornmissioner of education, was seen going around the room thanking those University of Texas professors who testified against the book banning and book censoring being proposed. What a pitiful sight, this limp courtesy of Edgar’s, as he acknowledged the courage that he and his colleagues in the Texas Education Agency so notably lack. Edgar and his staff have never said one word publicly against the banning and censoring proposals. Not one word. Instead, they have coddled the censors. They have suppressed the record of their compromises with the censors. They have acted disgracefully without the slightest shred of professional nerve. But now the professors come to do what the TEA will not do, although the professors, as eggheads in a state that prides itself for anti-sophistica Sen. Hubert Hudson last week accused lobbyist-lawyer Ed Clark of threatening his life because Hudson has been against the governor’s escheat bill. We do not think Mr. Clark, who is a gentleman and a collector of old maps, would seriously consider killing anybody, even Sen. Hudson. The Observer will admit that it has often considered knocking off Sen. Hudson, but has never pushed the matter too far because Sen. Hudson is also a gentleman, even in his moody the cartels, and challenging them in the name of “the people”? It was Don Yarborough, commenting on John Connally’s film on statewide television last Fridaythat studied effort to make of him a good proletarian who dubbed Mr. Connally “the barefoot boy from the Richardson Estate.” Madison Avenue runs closer to Texas these days than Wall Street ever did. We have had enough of this talk that liberals and labor and the Latins and the Negroes should “look Connally over.” A mess of pottage is no substitute for an aggressive, imaginative, dedicated attempt to reform a state government rift with sluggishness and mediocrity. There have been Washington circles in organized labor working in Connally’s behalf. Well then, let labor remember Maury Maverick Sr.’s last campaign for Congress, soon after he had been to Detroit helping Reuther organize the CIO auto workers, when William Green of the old AFL sent telegrams to every labor local in San Antonio advising them to work against him, and he lost by 300 votes. Let them remember the labor record of Brown and Root, the generous granddaddy of the popular front and of barefoot corporation lawyers. And let the Latin leaders, who have brought their people into the political arena and whose grievances are large and many, acknowledge that shortterm gain at the greater and more disastrous expense of the long-range aspirations of their people, is a hard proposition to live with. Remaining in brief and uneasy compromise with the sources of a certain kind of power has its temporary advantagesand its long-range dangers. There is cynicism in anyone’s move, even when unintended, that serves to slash at the roots of genuine and continuing reform. The political season is upon us early, and Texas liberals would be well-advised to examine every candidate thoroughly, and to seek the substance behind the gesture. tion, know they are exposing themselves to the yah-yahing of the yahoos and the mud-slinging of the gutter patriots. Already it has started. A Harvard graduate, huh ? A suggestive leer and a nudge: pinko. It’s corning from the committee, too : Dungan shaking his “Supreme Being” at Professor Shattuck as if it were a voodoo doll, Bass trying to “trip” a liberal Baptist minister \(University Baptist questions about the city limits of Bethlehem. Book banning and book burning are the most perverse forms of illiteracy, being that of people who not only can’t read but won’t read and try to prevent others from doing so. The illiterates have dominated the textbook struggle for months. How wonderful it is to see the literates stepping out now; fresh and open countenances, fresh and open arguments. Children of light. Welcome! By God, we thought you never would get here. moods, and because he attended Williams College, a small but ambitious little college in the East. Mr. Clark could not have threatened Sen. Hudson’s life on the telephone anyway, because Mr. Clark was out of town when the calls were made, and they were not long distance calls. Sen. Hudson’s accusation is an affront to every business lobbyist in Austin who believes that implicit in states’ rights is the right for a person, even Sen. Hud son, to live. We want to take this opportunity to defend Ed Clark. HOUSTON Most folks, when they announce for governor, explain how they want to make things better, slay assorted dragons, jazz up the republic, and such. All John Connally can explain is that he is not, either, Lyndon Johnson’s front man. This is a novel way to get votes, a little negative, but certainly worth a try. Otherwise, Connally’s platform is as fresh as last week’s eggs. It’s almost as though he can’t think of any of his real reasons for running that he can admit to in public. When he opened his campaign here in front of assorted Shivercrats he did not want to slay, the speech he read sounded like a dramatic collaboration between Horace Busby and Price Daniel. It went over so smooth, nobody could remember afterward what he said. Some of the sagest observers were delighted because they were convinced he had not said anythingthat the speech had been a special effect and had not really occurred at all. T HE ALERT REPORTERS, however, were on their guard against the humiliations of their brethren who ignored Lincoln’s speech in their dispatches from Gettysburg. If you will check the morning papers for January 20, you will find the actual proof that Connally did speak at his Houston opening. He will strive to contribute to Texas “by unifying our people . . . to see that we work closer together toward a common solution of the problems . . .” He is in favor of fiscal soundness without relying too much on taxing natural resources. \(There goes the wants to bolster the tourist business and get new industry for Texas. He is in favor of better schools ; how better, he did not precisely say. He is very much in favor of “an intelligent, skilled, and responsible” labor force; veterans in political rhetoric will understand his meaning. He supports care for old people, without going into tedious details \(for instance, he may or may not mean medical care, pension care, charity care, family care, getting fine young people into politics. Naturally he pledges the curtailment of oil imports. Above all he favors law enforcement. Quick, now : what did he say? AUSTIN As a matter of fact, Will Wilson has a reason to wonder why he doesn’t have more appeal for liberal voters. To some extent, he can claim credit for the fact that of all the states in the black belt, Texas has conducted its partial desegregation with some dignity. He has given yoeman service in the fight against the loan sharks. He is stubborn and he is honest and he is an attorneya combination which in itself makes him outstandingand there is no question but that his honest allegiance to the law of the land has prompted the defendant UT regents to look elsewhere for counsel. Furthermore, he has in recent months offended so many conservative Democrats with his bald anti-Johnson and anti-Daniel statements that, if by no more than default, he might have expected some encouragement from the liberal side. Published by Texas Observer Co.; Ltd. Entered as second-class matter, April 26, 1937, at the Post Office at Austin, Texas, under the Act of March 3, 1879. JANUARY 26, 1962 Willie Morris Editor and General Manager Bob Sherrill, Associate Editor Sarah Payne, Office Manager Ronnie Bugger, Contributing Editor His dynamic idea-men have by no means exhausted their stocks. In due time Connally will come out for Harmony, more bomber bases for Texas, an end to waste in state government, church-going, the Democratic Party \(except for the eggheads and leftpanded and revivified Texas Navy, strong insurance laws, ‘the Alamo, honesty in public life, and more bluebonnets. He may or may not condemn Walter Reuther and the A.D.A. He was counting on Jack Kennedy’s support. Now, however, the picture seems to be changing a little. Senator Yarborough and President Kennedy had a consultation Wednesday. Kennedy is said to have urged Yarborough not to run. Yarborough is said to have urged Kennedy to let Yarborough have more say in state patronage matters. But what is not said to have ‘been said doubtless was, namely, Yarborough told Kennedy that Yarborough Democrats will not swallow Connally. Whether Yarborough urged Kennedy to stay out of the primary is of course a question, but if Kennedy missed this meaning, it was probably because he chose to. YARBOROUGH was in a strong position with Kennedy. If his status as senior senator from Texas has not been accompanied by all the privileges that are customary, he could germanely remind the President of this fact. There was of course no doubt that Yarborough could have swept aside all opposition to win the gubernatorial primary. Whether national labor would have helped financially or not, \(and perhaps, after all, have gathered together the necessary campaign funds. In fact, Connally’s prospects have become considerably less attractive since it has become so obvious that Yarborough will have none of him. In any case, late Wednesday, back on the farm, the meaning of the term “Yarborough Democrats” was expanded somewhat as Don Yarborough announced for governor. It is Thursday morning, and already one can sense the profound irritation in the Connally-Johnson camp. Dash it all! Dern ! Oh, Slug ! First this, now that! How stupid are those liberals? Here we are, close to the throne, wielding all this power, and they don’t even realize. R.D. As for his frequent candidacy for just about any vacant office that happens alongan itchiness that rightly has been the object of the horselaugh amused liberals shouldn’t forget that our darling Ralph at one time had something of an embarrassing reputation for running, and running, and running. Wilson is all right. If he is politically dead, as Dugger said last week, it is probably because he is truly the “moderate” he claims to be. Moderation isn’t in the air this year. Goldwaterism is in the air ; the ruthlessness of a fading gang is in the air ; perhaps an upswing of liberalism is too. But not moderation. Wilson was probably right when he said “this is going to be the most combustible political year we’ve had in a long time.” That’s just his trouble. Who, when he thinks of combustion, thinks of Wilson? B.S. Published once a week from Austin, Texas. Delivered postage prepaid $5.10 per annum. Advertising rates available on request. Extra copies 15c each. Quantity prices available on order. EDITORIAL and BUSINESS OFFICE: 504 West 24th St., Austin, Texas. Phone GReenwood 7-0746. HOUSTON OFFICE: Mrs. R. D. Randolph, 2131 Welch, Houston 19, Texas. 5h e iJoue lined iluchon _7hreatened Wilson Appraised THE TEXAS OBSERVER 7.kg?0=