ustxtxb_obs_1964_12_25_50_00016-00000_000.pdf

Great Britain has said MLF adds nothing to Western strength, the President of France has described it as “inflicting a grievous wound upon a great hope,” the Prime Minister of Belguim has predicted it would create old mistrusts, the External Affairs Minister of Canada called it a “collision course,” and according to Dan Cook of the St. Louis Post Dispatch, the Dutch government is split down the middle. Justice William 0. Douglas, in an address on July 1, 1962, pointed out, “The Pentagon that gets roughly 45 billion a year . . . makes for conformity. Through a thousand influences that reach us since World War II, we are conditioned to the idea that the Pentagon has the answer to communism . . . Containment of Communism by milinot Line . . . The danger of the impact of this psychology on us was summarized by Eisenhower in his farewell address to the nation when he stated: “In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted i n f 1 u e n c e, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex.” Pointing out that non-military solutions must also be evolved to face the global challenge of communism, Justice Douglas went on to say, “No matter what the Pentagon says, the federal societies are doomed. Overseas the peoples’ protests are being heard more and more . . . Hunger, disease, illiteracy, exploitation, and misgovernment . . . these are the enemies. The peoples of the world are going to be done with them. Revolution after revolution is going to be launched. Are we to credit every revolution to the communists? Is every overseas reformer to be suspect?” Let us have some second thoughts about Germans having their fingers on a Polaris missile. Six million murdered Jews and thousands upon thousands of slain allies 16 The Texas Observer of World War II, civilian and military, would at least expect that much of us, and the time is now for Texas Observer readers to make themselves heard by their Congressmen. Merry Christmas everybody. Maury Maverick, Jr., attorney, Maverick Bldg., San Antonio, Tex. Humbug in Wasteland Having just finished your issue of Dec. 11, I feel impelled to say that snide remarks from the reading public aside, I thought that Larry King’s piece on our great Alger was one of the pieces that makes your publication so welcome in this wasteland. I might also add that Clay Cochran’s communication on the social hypocrisy of “United Funds” hits the perfect note on this great humbug.John E. George, 6407 Howard, Dallas, Tex. The Next Ten Years After reading your tenth anniversary issue, I won’t be able to sleep until I tell you how great it is, especially Larry Goodwyn’s “The New Vision.” Since none of the contributing editors did any predicting on the next ten years, I’ll take the chance: By 1974 the Texas Observer will be copied all across the U.S. By then, the money won’t be our national` image . . . And, predicting further, the Observer will be in the history books and literature like the old Spectator of England. However, the next ten years will be the most crucial, as we shall see if our man Lyndon keeps his rendezvous with destiny or evolves further into Machiavellianism. I ought not to thank you for the high blood pressure your paper has given me in the past ten years, but I will thank you for driving me and my close associates .. . into seeing a new land and fighting for a better society, even though it nearly killed us. I am sending you two new subscriptions. Mrs. Kathryn Blackman, 5321 Beaumont Ave., Groves, Tex. Sales Tax Groceries I hope that you will permit me to dissent from your views on sales taxes on groceries. Standing near the checking counter in East Texas grocery stores, now and then I would see a cart stacked high and the lower deck loaded with bulky items. Do not try to tell me that source of taxation ought not be exploited. Then would come people with smaller loads; none of them looked as though two or more than twenty cents’ tax would push them down deep, deep, into the depths of despair. Now let us cross the tracks to the emporium where many of the colored population purchase their provisions. None of them looked hungry, and I did see some objects \(this goes for all colors and all shades of I am sure that a 2% reduction would not leave them staggering skeletons. And now we come to the really poor. I hope and expect that social services will be organized to supply supplemental sustenance to the needy, and it is part of your job to keep prodding. But few will deny that there is waste of good food in the garbage can. I will venture it exceeds 2%. All strata participate, from the most opulent to the poorer, and I say let us snag some shekels from that wasteful habit. Groceries are sales taxed 3% here. John W. Deming, Route 3, Manchester, Ky. The Latin-American Percentage The Nov. 13 issue of the Texas Observer was very informative, and your article on how this last election showed the influence of minority groups was especially interesting. I think that your readers should know why certain predominantly Latin-American precincts in Cameron County showed a lower percentage of voter turnout than in 1960. The late John F. Kennedy had a powerful appeal to the average Latin American voter, and it was not entirely due to the fact that he was a Roman , Catholic, although this was certainly an important part of it. The 1960 KennedyJohnson campaign portrayed President Kennedy as a romantic leader, and he showed certain qualities of personality which were magnetic to Latin-Americans. On the other hand, these motivational forces were not evident in the 1964 Johnson-Humphrey campaign. President Johnson and Senator Humphrey were certainly not considered unattractive to the LatinAmerican voter, and Goldwater was regarded as most unappealing. However, that romantic quality which was so apparent in the Kennedy personality and which was so appealing to the average Latin-American was not present in this campaign. Were it not for the effective work in the precincts done by P.A.S.O., the percentage of voters who went to the polls in Latin-American areas would have been much smaller. . . . We must still face the fact that too many Republicans vote in the Democratic primary and until they start voting in the Republican primary, liberals will not be able to win. . . . I am well acquainted with the situation in California and several other states which have a two-party system. True, liberal Democrats do not win all of the elections in these states, but liberals do comprise a majority in the Democratic Party, almost always win the Democratic primary, and win their fair share of the general elections. In Texas only one liberal has won a statewide office in my lifetime, and liberals have almost no influence in the state Democratic Party. . . . The last election was far too crucial to do more than give private thoughts to voting for a few Republicans against less desirable candidates on the Democratic ticket. We had to emphasize straight ticket voting for simplicity’s sake and to prevent retaliation against Senator Yarborough by Connally people. But in the future, when we have no truly decent and liberal candidates we should give serious consideration to building the Republican Party in Texas so that it will be attractive enough to drain off conservative voters. Cruz Alaniz, P.O. Box 247, Alamo, Tex.